2023 Baker’s Bay Artists’ Retreat Exhibition

from FlyNamibia December 2023

The Year in Review

From 9 - 21 September 2023, twelve artists attended the Baker’s Bay Artists’ Retreat in the Tsau //Khaeb (Sperrgebiet) National Park. This retreat is the third of its kind and is sponsored by Namdeb and the OMDis Town Transform Agency. As part of OMDis’ Art Can Transform project, the Artists’ Retreat was held at Bogenfels in 2021 and at Baker’s Bay in 2022. This important annual event brings artists to an area of Namibia which is still largely inaccessible and provides an opportunity for them to live and work together, focussing on the unique history and environment of the national park. Through the final exhibition of the artworks in Oranjemund and again in Windhoek, a wider audience is provided with a unique view into an area that they would otherwise never have had access to.

For the 2023 retreat, artists from four towns in Namibia were invited, including Wil-Merie Greyling (Swakopmund), Immanuel Chiete (Oranjemund), Julia Nakashwa Hango (Swakopmund), Elisia Nghidishange (Omaruru), Ismael Shivute (Windhoek), Natache Sylvia Iilonga (Windhoek), Tity Kalala Tshilumba (Windhoek), Nicky Marais (Oranjemund) and Lila Swanepoel (Windhoek). The retreat was also excited to host three artists from outside Namibia, namely Anita Sambanje (Angola), Jeannette Unite (South Africa) and Line Krom (Germany).

The Tsau //Khaeb (Sperrgebiet) National Park has incredible geographical, biological, social and historical significance. During this iteration of the retreat, artists were asked to focus their thoughts and works on the idea of “Creative Rehabilitation”. This theme laid the groundwork for artists to think about the ways in which their work might help to rehabilitate the former mining area and imagine alternative uses for the existing infrastructure. Rehabilitation is an important part of post-mining land use and artists were encouraged to explore the potential role that creativity and art can play when mining eventually stops in the area.

As a result, this exhibition includes a wide variety of artworks in traditional and new mediums. Sculptural works on display use recycled metals from a nearby dump. Paintings respond to the landscape in various ways, drawing from topographic imagery and in some cases using pigments from the earth. Photography and collage incorporate archival images and document installations and site-specific artworks that will remain at Baker’s Bay for years to come. Two video works document performance art that took place during the retreat. Also on display are imaginative architectural plans that seek to explore new modalities of inhabiting the landscape. Alongside all this, the exhibition showcases a short documentary by filmmaker Lila Swanepoel, capturing the experience of the artists.

The remote environment of Baker’s Bay provided artists with a chance to pursue their creative practice in an uninterrupted, dedicated manner. They used this opportunity to learn from each other and be inspired by the incredibly unique environment and its social history.