‘Dolphins’ stolen from Omaruru River

A SET of dolphin sculptures made of polyurethane and fibreglass and coated with river sand as part of an art exhibition by Swakopmund artist Seth Forthmeyer were stolen on Wednesday.

The exhibition was set in the running Omaruru River. ‘This was actually just a test run. We wanted to try out where to place the dolphins and how to secure them as we wanted to release them next time the river is running high. ‘We caused quite a stir at the bridge as cars stopped and took photographs. The point of it all was to make the public unknowing participants in an art happening and it worked!’ Hanne Alpers of Omuntu Gardens at Omaruru told The Namibian. ‘People have called me and said how excited they were to see the dolphins and kids begged their parents to take them to the river to see the sea creatures.’The idea, according to her, was to draw people who normally would never go to an art exhibition. This free public exhibition came to an abrupt end yesterday morning, as the two dolphins had been stolen.The Police were called, and a trail left by the suspected thief was followed.’Now all kids are disappointed that the dolphins they had come to love are gone and we all wait to see who liked them too much for the public to enjoy,’ said Alpers.The investigation continues.Alpers said the Namibian public needs to get used to the idea of ‘public art’, as galleries and exhibitions are empty of visitors, and ‘obviously someone liked the dolphins so much, he or she needed to own them’.