Permanent exhibition launched at Nakambale Museum

‘BLACK and White: Finnish Memories of Northern Namibia’, a photographic exhibition was recently launched at the Nakambale Museum at Olukonda in the Oshikoto region.

The launch drew a large crowd of local residents and featured dynamic performances by cultural groups.

Featuring a display of 32 photographs that were taken at Olukonda and other early Finnish mission stations, the earliest photograph on display was taken in 1893. The exhibition provides a unique view of life in northern Namibia at a time when most people had not yet converted to Christianity.

Funded by the Embassy of Finland, photographs were donated by the Kumbukumbu Museum in Helsinki shortly before it closed. The same exhibition has already been shown at the National Art Gallery in Windhoek and Woermann House in Swakopmund. It was developed by the Museums Association of Namibia (MAN) and Nakambale Museum with new extended captions that give new meaning to the photographs as well as provide translations in OshiNdonga.

Former president Hifike­punye Pohamba, who opened the exhibition, expressed satisfaction that the photographs on exhibit were in the very house where Nakambale had lived and which many people shown in the photographs had probably visited. He spoke about the important role Finnish missionaries played in developing literacy and health facilities.

The exhibition is built around seven thematic sections. One section shows images of the Omukwaaniilwa (king) of the Ndonga in the early 20th century. Another shows powerful images of Ondjala yekomba (‘The famine that swept’) that is remembered in oral tradition, whilst a third explores the meaning of traditional hairstyles and dress.

MAN is hoping that it will be able to produce a duplicate version of the exhibition to be shown in Finland to promote interest in Namibia and the Finnish-Namibian entangled history. They hope to add more photos to the exhibition as well as more knowledge from local residents.

– Museums Association of Namibia (MAN)

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