Knowing where you come from

TUNOHOLE MUNGOBAA celebration of Namibian artCelebrated between the 18 until 24 September, Heritage Week serves as an opportunity for Namibians to celebrate their heritage and it inspires Namibians to keep their cultures alive and to pass on inherited traditions and knowledge to their descendants. As a partner of the Heritage Week, NAGN presented two different art talks that were free of charge and open to everyone. “When we do the art talks, we aim at engaging with our society. Our wish is that the general layman on the street can come out and learn something about culture. It is a cultural event and the different artists we showcase are portraying different issues that touch their lives,” says Elize van Huyssteen, manager and curator of the Namibia Arts Association. The first talk focused on introducing the heritage collection of Namibia with Rika Nel, a retired art educator that gave a vast view on the collection of art work since 1948. The second talk focused on how basketry can influence contemporary art practises with Karin le Roux, from the Omba Trust educating the attendees on traditional basketry that orginates from northern Namibia. Importance of arts According to van Huyssteen, a lot of Namibians are not aware about the different arts exhibitions that held around the city due to reasons such as the lack of exposure. “We are opening up all these places so that we can pick up on what to change about our social conditions in our country as well.” She also says that the talks have shown her that there is a hunger amongst the younger generation of artists for knowledge from the archives. The gallery has a vast collection of artwork and about 132 belong to the late John Muafangejo, a Namibian artist who became internationally known as a maker of woodcut prints. He created linocuts, woodcuts and etchings. “There are so many other artists who came after Muafangejo who are worth celebrating and could be the leaders in the industry for our upcoming artists,” she continued to add. The objects of the heritage is to celebrate Namibia’s rich and diverse heritage, promote the safeguarding and protection of all cultural heritage in Namibia irrespective of their religious or ethnic identity, to recognise that all forms of cultural heritage in Namibia are valued as equal in importance and to promote understanding across diverse communities of the communal value of heritage. Van Huyssteen also explained to the Zone that arts is an important part in the lives of Namibian children. “It is important that our education sector also looks at different educational improvements of systems as we arts is only a choice subject until a certain grade. We also need to increase the number of places where learners can study arts related courses,” she says.

Knowing where you come from

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Republikein 2025-06-05

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Knowing where you come from

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