Shebeen Queen exhibited at Cafe Prestige
Shebeen Queens, an intimate photo series by photographer Julia Runge portraying the hardships, and triumphs of women who own and run shebeens in Namibia and South Africa will open on 10 March at Cafe Prestige in Windhoek.
For these women, running their businesses gives them the economic empowerment that allows them to support themselves, their families and gives them the freedom to determine their destinies.
The exhibition opens on the 10th March at 7:00 PM and five of the women (Maria, Belinda, Rauna, Lilye, and Aina) will also be in attendance at the opening to share their stories and experiences first-hand.
Photographer Runge was born in Berlin in 1990. She lived in Namibia from 2010 to 2012 and has returned to visit Namibia ever since. She obtained her Photography Degree in 2015 at the Ostkreuzschule in Berlin with the photo series “Basterland” that delves into the traditions and culture of the Baster community in Rehoboth.
Her work primarily focuses on social structures and culture where she uses her natural and empathetic pictorial language to open an artistic insight into the subject.
She has exhibited in China, Germany, France, Nigeria, Uganda, U.S.A, Switzerland, Italy, Malaysia, and Namibia (when Shebeen Queens was exhibited in Swakopmund in 2021).
Shebeen Queens is dedicated to all the women who won’t be crushed by their circumstances and who have the courage and strength to uplift themselves and their communities. Shebeen Queens’ photobook is available for purchase at N$500.
The exhibition will run from 10 March 2022 until 06 April 2022 at Cafe Prestige at 118 Robert Mugabe Avenue. The opening is on Thursday 10 March 2022 at 19h00-21h00.
The exhibition is sponsored by the Embassy of Germany in Windhoek and the Deutsch-Namibische Gesellschaft.
