Ruminations On Contemporary Namibian Life

Snake dreams, music spirits and green cards are just some of the images presented in StArt Salon Vol. 2.

Featuring art by Fillipus Sheehama, Nicky Marais and Elisia Nghidishange, the showcase rises to the challenge of exhibiting online through a neat collage of interviews, ambience and synoptic curation.

To accompany the pieces which cannot be viewed in person due to current Covid-19 restrictions, StArt Salon ushers in the environment outside its doors. Press play at the very top of the page and the sounds of Independence Avenue, hushed somewhat by the lockdown, trickle over the artworks recalling the world by which much of the artists’ work was inspired.

In a post-coronavirus society where alcohol has been banned, Sheehama’s recycled metal bottle top tapestry titled ‘Green Cards’ (2018) refers to a time when Namibians would gather and drink freely.

Sheehama would collect the colourful beer bottle tops from local shebeens and weave them together with wire. Through its material, the piece considers issues of alcohol abuse in neglected communities ravaged by unemployment. Speaking in an interview on the site, available in both Oshiwambo and English, Sheehama shares that the work is influenced by the traditional patchwork worn in colonial times and is also an item connoting unity through its use of beer tops.

“We have consumed them. They become our identities. They have our memories. At the end, we are all one.”

We all drink the same beer regardless of our political parties, culture, colour or religion.

Also concerned with aspects of Namibian identity, Nghidishange presents cardboard print eggshell overskirts, abstract music spirits and footsteps.

Exploring both the personal and communal and creating in celebration of the potential of tradition to inspire unity, Nghidishange also provided a collection of original prints, ceramics and mystery boxes for a 22-prize raffle in which everybody won one of her artworks.

The artist, who prefers to speak through her art, provides some short commentary on the site.

“I work mostly in abstract figures, because that is how I see people in society. I don’t see much reality,” says the printmaker and sculptor.

“I try to find the position of women in the presence of men. I try to find my position too. Sometimes my emotion drives me into my creation. You may not see it, but I’m in each piece I create. I hope you too are able to find yourself in this abstract.”

Finally, paintings by Nicky Marais incorporate a series of recurring shapes, motifs and symbols, including snakes and pylons. The former inspired by a dream of her mother and the latter by an enduring fascination.

“I really love pylons and I think that’s because they’re linear things that march across the landscape. They kind of define the landscape in a way,” says Marais, whose work often considers “transition, liminality and connection”.

“I think the image also fits in with my other work, because they are connectors. They connect centres to each other. They connect centres with energy and I think that’s why they are incredibly exciting forms.”

Finding time to be far more meticulous and intricate during lockdown, Marais finds some artistic space in these strange new days.

“Being locked down at home in my studio, I tend to work much more carefully and slower. But I’m enjoying the energy in these pylon paintings now because they kind of remind me of how hectic my life used to be.”

A short and well-curated exhibition presenting a variety of styles and ruminations on contemporary Namibian life, StArt Salon Vol. 2 can be viewed at startartgallery.com.

– martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook; marthamukaiwa.com

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