Sister Namibia Billboard Celebrates Feminist Activists

Outside Sister Namibia, near the corner of Nelson Mandela and Robert Mugabe avenues in Windhoek, some of the country’s foremost feminists are watching over the busy street.

‘This is What Namibian Feminism Looks Like’ says a billboard depicting the faces of activists Rosa Namises, the late Ottilie Abrahams, Deyonce Naris, Beauty Boois, Ndiilo Nthengwe, Rachel Gawases, Nsozi Mwazi, Lucy Edwards, Irene //Garoës and Florence Khaxas.

The billboard, which uses the aesthetic of embroidery and patchwork collage to symbolise how these women are tied together by the common thread of gender quality and empowerment, was designed by activist and multidisciplinary artist Hildegard Titus to honour these often unsung leaders.

“Collectively these are women who have worked in pushing feminist, womanist issues. They’ve been the mothers, the sisters, the friends and the caretakers of many,” says Titus, whose subjects hail from various intersectional feminist groups and organisations, including the Voices for Choices and Rights Coalition, the Transgender, Intersex and Androgynous Movement of Namibia, the Young Feminist Movement Namibia, the Slut Shame Movement, and One Billion Rising Namibia.

“These women have worked to ensure that our rights are upheld. They have worked to protect each other, and reminded Namibia and the world that women are a force to be reckoned with. These are Namibian women who I personally admire and have an appreciation for. Their work, determination, care and groundedness have helped me shape my own feminism and reminds me of my own duty to do my collective part.”

Using colours such as red, purple and pink to symbolise contrasting ideas of bloodshed and strength, Titus has designed a deceivingly simple yet striking ode to the country’s feminist activists and the many women who have helped create a safer place for women, children and LGBTQ+ people.

“Red is the colour of passion, strength and blood, and Lord knows our blood has been shed . . . shed when women were killed and raped, shed when women bleed to death with backdoor abortions because access to it is so limited, bled when wars and violence of the past has made us targets, but also expected us to bury and mourn our dead. The purple is symbolic of the regalness, power, and presence that women exude,” Titus says.

In the billboard’s background the artist includes a collection of slogans she thinks everyone needs to hear: Protect Women. Believe Women. Support Women. Love Women. Trans Women are Women.

“Last year, there was such a reckoning in how we approach gender and social issues in Namibia, and I recognised that a lot of the featured women, and women in general, are always the backbone of every social movement, every petition, every call for rights and justice,” Titus says.

“So I wanted to celebrate and honour the contribution that Namibian women make. Our books are filled with the history of men who’ve ‘shaped our history’, but we barely hear about the women. This was also a way to kind of archive our contribution.”

Taking pride of place on Nelson Mandela Avenue, the billboard is also Titus’ attempt to mainstream feminism and remind people that one needn’t shy away from it.

Presented as part of Sister Namibia’s artist activation series, the billboard is precisely in tune with the feminist organisation’s new mandate.

“We love it! It is a celebration. It is claiming space. It is beautiful and it is power. Our work is about making the issues we deal with more visible,” says Sister Namibia’s Brigit Loots.

“For too long women and gender non-conforming Namibians have been silenced, our stories marginalised, the pain and violence we face ignored, our beauty distorted and our bodies controlled. This billboard is big, bright, loud and proud – it is difficult to ignore. This is exactly what we want to do with the work of Sister Namibia.”

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

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