WINDHOEK, July 5 — Colorful chitenge fabric, carved and painted surfaces, and portraits of African historical figures filled the upper gallery of the National Art Gallery of Namibia on Saturday, where visitors gathered to reflect on the continent’s past through contemporary art.
Titled “Giants of Africa,” the exhibition ran from May 21 to July 4 and formed part of the gallery’s Emerging Artists Program.
Organized by the National Art Gallery, it featured works by two young female Namibian artists, Jodine Strauss and Esneya Zulu, both graduates of the College of the Arts class of 2024.
Framed as a “sacred grove,” the exhibition transformed the gallery into a meeting place between past and present.
Across fabric, carved surfaces and layered images, African queens, rulers and spiritual figures appeared not as distant names in history books, but as enduring voices speaking to questions of power, belonging and freedom today.
Speaking at an artist talk on the closing day of the exhibition, Chief Curator Ndeenda Shivute-Nakapunda said the show was significant not only for its artistic approach but also for providing two emerging female artists with a platform at the national gallery.
“The representation of women in the arts is something that we need to increase and be very aware of as a gallery and as a national institution,” she added. The exhibition brought the artists’ research to life in different visual languages.
While Zulu worked with the vivid patterns and textures of chitenge fabric, Strauss turned to historical figures from Egypt, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria and Madagascar.
One of her works revisited Queen Ranavalona I of Madagascar, drawing on references to royal architecture and courtly dress to explore a figure whose image has often been shaped through external accounts.
“Her story was always told by other people, not necessarily by her own people,” Strauss explained. On its final day, the exhibition left visitors with more than images of queens, rulers and spiritual figures.
It opened a space to consider how Africa’s past continues to shape the stories its people tell about themselves today.
Among the visitors was Kuajongananga Tjiuru Tia Ngaipa, who said that despite the artists’ different approaches, the exhibition conveyed a common cultural spirit.
“What stood out for me today is the fact that most of those arts were different, but you could still feel the culture, the warmth of Africa,” she said.
A visiting artist, Ina-Maria Shikongo, said the works reminded audiences of a continent shaped by figures who resisted domination and defended their communities.
“Ubuntu (humanity toward others in Bantu languages) is not just a word; it is where we come from,” Shikongo said. (Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
