The Lone Men of Kaokoveld find their way to Venice

A herder saw it first. Breaking the horizon on a flat plain amongst rounded red stones strewn over the vast landscape where herders know every tree, bush, track and form. In the land where the only predictable changes are the colour of the landscape as the time of day or the seasons pass or when the grass cover hides the stones after good rains, first green then gold.

What the herder noticed had not been there before. He saw it close to a two-spoor track – a strange silhouette against the blue sky. Had he taken another route in another direction it would have blended perfectly with the rocky hill behind it. His good fortune was to have walked that way, otherwise he would not have been the first to see it. What he saw was a Lone Man of the Kaokoveld. Just sitting. “Waiting for number 38” reads the metal tag by his feet.

And from there the discoveries of Lone Men of Kaokoveld took flight. Nobody knows how many there are and where they are.

Hanging from a rock near Sesfontein. Walking towards the setting sun.

Keeping watch under a scrawny tree in Hartmann’s Valley. Crouching on a rock watching the traffic pass below, willing travellers to look up and notice him.

Nobody knows where another one will appear.

Travellers to Kaokoveld, the most remote part of Namibia, became fascinated by the stone figures. Namibians became protective of them and wanted to treasure the magic and excitement of noticing them in the most unexpected places. We hate it when tour guides give clues to one another with obvious little stone piles next to the road. And we detest it when spoil sports share GPS coordinates on silly 4x4 groups or are too lazy to get out of their vehicles and walk to a Lone Man to introduce themselves when they spot one.

After many years the secret of the Lone Men and their creator are still well hidden, although the story about their existence is now exposed to the world.

Earlier this year, on an island in the lagoon of Venice, a few Lone Men appeared as part of this year’s famous, globally acclaimed Biennale d’Arte. On the Island of La Certosa they stand watch for the duration of the event.