Race for an artful Namibia

from Construction Mining Magazine Vol 5 | Edition No 2

by Namibia's Construction and Mining Magazine

How to Calculate your water bill

ART

Race for an artful Namibia

In Europe, every new public building project, irrespective of whether it is a school, administrative building or hospital or any other purpose, is required to include in its budget a minimum 3% of the total building cost for a public artwork. Not only does it enhance the public space, tell a story about the building and become a tourist attraction, it also supports the struggling artist profession in general. In Namibia this noble legislation is sorely missing, resulting in our public spaces being generally experienced as uninspiring and dead. Following a recent initiative by the National Art Gallery of Namibia called ‘what’s your story’ artists were called upon to produce artworks in reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic. Amongst others, the artists were also encouraged to produce public artworks on public spaces. For this purpose the City of Windhoek generously offered to make the open areas around the new and old municipal building available. The contribution from WHUDA MARBLE ART NAMIBIA was an artwork carved in Karibib marble stone. The challenge that they set themselves was that three artists (Kambezunda Ngavee, Henry Coetzee and Winfried Holze) would work independently on a single marble stone on consecutive days (i.e. one day the one works, the next day the other one and the third day the third artist

and so on) and with different themes each, to eventually culminate into one artwork. Work commenced on 16th November 2020 and finished on Friday 8th January 2021.

With this artwork the following messages were to be conveyed:

1. To demonstrate that a persons of a completely different backgrounds can work together in Namibia with a single purpose and make a success of it. 2. To prove that a Covid-19 pandemic crisis can be overcome when managed creatively. 3. That instead of removing or demolishing existing artworks or monuments, thereby attempting to delete history, one should rather ADD to the discourse and create awareness, by contributing creatively towards a better understanding and reconciliation. 4. To create awareness for the need of art and especially public art as this is very much lacking in our public spaces. We need to tell ourselves, our visitors and future generations about who and what we are as a nation. Artworks also contribute towards the beautification and livability of our urban environments. 5. Create awareness of the availability of high quality marble stone in Namibia, a mineral very rare in sub-Saharan Africa and currently exclusively exploited by foreign nations. Local value addition of local resources should rather be made a priority, in order to add to wealth and employment creation within the country. 6. An attempt at creating an added Namibian identity in the skillful production of stone art, particularly in marble stone. Currently much of African stone art is characteristically Zimbabwean and predominantly soap- , lime- or sand stone. 7. Artists are conduits of light, they are responsible to bring messages of hope to the public in times of darkness, releasing art to the world, as a form of inspiration.

It proved to be an extremely risky experiment that was undertaken to see whether it was possible to create a complete and aesthetically pleasing artwork without a prior plan, image, sketch or discussion as to what should be created. In addition, the artwork was to be done without each artist knowing what the other artists are doing until a certain stage where the artwork is to be amalgamated. Judging from the final product, one can safely say that this artwork has been a complete success story, demonstrating that as individuals and as a nation we can work together, irrespective of background, creed or colour. It thus symbolises unity, hope and cooperation for our nation, thus its name: UNITY.

The sculpture inevitably could only be an abstract work of art. Every new angle provides a new impression as one walks around it. Unlike a ‘David’ from Michelangelo for instance where what you see is what you get, in this case, everybody will every time see something new from every new viewpoint. This adds to the multiplicity of the sculpture in which everybody can get involved, interpret and engage with it freely. Its soft edges and curves are nonaggressive or provocative, but in harmony with the rest. It even has a spiritual quality about it.

The sculpture can still be viewed in front of the new municipality building until such time as a favorable buyer is found. Once a final place for it to stand has been identified it will be mounted onto a pedestal made either of steel or bricks and plaster.