Tony Figueira’s ‘Flashback’ looks at 30 years of Namibian Independence

DURING the turbulent pre-independent 80s, and early 90s, the late Namibian photographer Tony Figueira documented the struggle for liberation and created a photographic archive which includes coverage of trade union rallies to the return of Namibia’s founding president Sam Nujoma, and South Africa’s exit from the country.

These early photographs mark the beginning of a photographic practice that continued to capture the ongoing journey of Namibia and her people over the next 27 years.

This year Namibia celebrates its 30th independence anniversary, and StArt Art Gallery and The Project Room Namibia commemorates the occasion with ‘Flashback’ an exhibition of photographs by Figueira. Through showcasing some of Figueira’s historical and more contemporary photographs, this exhibition provides a glimpse into the past and demands a moment of reflection.

As with any historic photography collection, these images are fascinating because they create a time capsule. Images of protest as well as play create an interesting juxtaposition that combine to reject the notion that it is only through images of abjection and poverty that we can come to understand adversity and pain.

Figueira (1959 to 2017) was born in 1959 in Huambo, Angola, and moved to Windhoek at the age of seven.

His passion for photography was first inspired at 16 after picking up a school friend’s camera. He went on to pursue photography and writing by studying journalism at Rhodes University, from which he graduated in 1984.

Figueira held his first solo exhibition, ‘Minha Terra’, in 1989 at the National Art Gallery of Namibia. He was well-known for founding Studio 77, a photographic studio which he started in 2004 with colleague and friend Hans Rack, before being run independently until 2015 in Windhoek and then in Swakopmund until 2017. Figueira’s success in his career in photography was showcased by a series of awards and exhibitions which throughout the years depicted the beauty and intricacy of the human experience, the pre and post independence struggle for freedom and justice in Namibia and her neighbours, as well as the contrastingly beautiful Namibian landscape and wildlife.

His exhibitions have travelled from Windhoek to Swakopmund, Grahamstown, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Lubango, Lisbon, Norway and Denmark.

‘Flashback’ opens at 18h00 on Friday, 20 March at The Project Room, open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10h00 to 13h00, in Windhoek and runs until Saturday, 4 April.

For a more in-depth discussion, join the daughter of the late artist and co-curator Gina Figueira, and photographer and writer Kristin Capp, for an art talk at The Project Room on 26 March at 18h30.

For more information email info@startartgallery.com; info@frieda.co.za or call 081 831 6306.

– StArt Art Gallery

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