Exhibition about the complexities of German-Namibian entangled histories set for national gallery
The National Art Gallery of Namibia (NAGN) will be host the an exhibition titled: Ovizire, Somgu: From Where Do We Speak?, on 11 July to 24 August.
The exhibition which is is in cooperation with the University of Hamburg and the Gerda Henkel Foundation will focus on the complexities of German-Namibian entangled histories, drawing from its title ‘Ovizire’’, a word from the Otjiherero language and ‘Somgu’ in Khoekhoegowab, which in everyday use can be translated to mean shadow or aura.
According to the national gallery the cross-disciplinary exhibition proposes a critical reading of the colonial photographic archive through its gaps and shadows.
“At its centre, Ovizire Somgu interrogates colonial representations, the colonial gaze and legacies of power embedded in the landscape that continues to dominate or silence counter histories and diverse voices, in particular it brings to the surface the uneven remembrance of the colonial genocide(1904-1908),” they explained.
Ovizire Somgu will consist of video installation, photography, mixed-media collage, soundscape, sculpture and performance interventions, the works exhibited have emerged out of an ongoing conversation and creative collaboration between artists, curators and scholars in Namibia and Germany over a period of several months in 2018 and 2019. While also celebrating the possibilities of new voices of solidarity, resistance and healing.
The participating artists are: Vitjitua Ndjiharine, Nashilongweshipwe Mushaandja, Nicola Brand, Ulrike Peters, Isabel Katjavivi and Hildegard Titus.
