Comment: Namibia’s Triennale 2008 The business of art

N AMIBIA was graced with the presence of a leading African intellectual on aesthetics over the past week.

In his speech, Yacouba Konate, the chief judge of the Bank Windhoek Triennale 2008, made the telling remark that history, up to now, was written from the point of view of the winners.

Quoting Walter Benjamin, Konate suggested that it is now time to write that history from the point of view of the losers.

“Art is a mirror in which any society learns to recognise its excess and limits, so it could improve,” Konate reflects.

“It is a field of metamorphosis that negotiates a registered trademark of a country.”

Few people will disagree with the professor.

After all the “thank yous” and the awards ceremony, the lavish spread of food and drinks at the official opening of Bank Windhoek Triennale 2008 enhanced the more informal conversations between friends, artists, colleagues and journalists on Friday evening.

But underlying all the laughter and the joy of the artists who made the top grade in the visual arts in Namibia, was the really relevant question: what made all this possible? Smart partnerships are rare and often well considered.

In making N$2 million a year available for the arts over the next 15 years, Bank Windhoek has not only reconfirmed its commitment to being a “truly Namibian company”, but has demonstrated more than just a commitment to building indigenous art.

In a world dominated by the excesses of private accumulation and profit margins, Bank Windhoek has self-consciously pushed a different vision of a financial institution into the public domain.

In his presentation at the ceremony, Chris Mathee, acting managing director of the bank, makes the observation: “Our local artists desperately need a platform to display their talent …

The development of the arts in Namibia is in dire need of financial support.”

With this in mind, the bank and its executives decided to work with the National Art Gallery, the College of the Arts, the Omba Gallery and the Warehouse Theatre to “enhance an arts industry that is self-sustaining and feasible in the Namibian environment”.

Bank Windhoek’s marketing strategy is about people and their work.

Of course, the quid pro quo for the bank is exposure to a broader Namibian public, possible tax rebates and free advertising at the art events that it sponsors.

There is nothing wrong with that.

As director of the National Art Gallery Joseph Madisia says: “It is when society is at the crossroads that art and other social institutions must stand together to meet with the marketing strategies of truly Namibian institutions like Bank Windhoek.”

Understandably, Madisia is effusive in his appreciation for the sponsorship the bank has given.

The relationship between art and business has always been fraught, and so it should be.

Business is about organising the bottom line.

Art is about critically reflecting what’s happening in society and it can be aggressively opposed to those who are in charge of the commanding heights of the economy, such as the bank.

But it is precisely this tension between the haves and the have-nots that provides the material for artistic expression.

Retha-Louise Hofmeyr, the director of arts in the department of arts and culture and who serves on the board of the National Arts Gallery, believes that the arts should be given far more space in hard news and economics sections of the print media.

In her characteristic humility, Hofmeyr sees art as a “catalyst for dialogue and economic growth.

Namibians need to start seeing the arts as one of our most important export products.”

This view is shared by Konate who says that Namibian art is of an international standard but needs more exposure.

Namibian art is unique and great.

Events such as the Triennale can only but enhance its local and international resonance.

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