Van Gogh Style Etosha National Park - Artful Vision Capture the essence of the Namibian wilderness with this stunning Etosha National Park canvas print, rendered in the expressive, emotive style of Vincent van Gogh. This unique artwork depicts a vital ...

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Van Wyk Retrospective Looks to the Future At the National Art Gallery of Namibia (NAGN), veteran artist Andrew van Wyk says he’s “getting old” and a younger artist, who has hurried to greet him, banishes the idea with a laugh. At 62, Van Wyk is still full of life, work and new ideas, and the sight of the celebrated artist, in from his farm near Rehoboth, is a rare treat. In the city to join the launch of the Bank Windhoek Triennial, Van Wyk, a previous winner, attends to extend his support to the initiative. Fittingly, the event takes place amid Van Wyk’s exhibition titled ‘Art Through the Eye of An Artist’. Across three rooms of the NAGN’s lower gallery, the artist’s layered, complex and sometimes surreal worlds beckon from frames that seem to strain to constrain Van Wyk’s evocative visions. Presenting echoes of alien encounters, visualisations of parallel worlds and glimpses of dreamlike planets, Van Wyk contrasts these fantastic scenes with the everyday beauty of Namibian culture and the struggles of Namibia’s people rendered in prints and paintings. The selection on display dates back to the early 90s and is pulled from the NAGN’s permanent and heritage collections as well as from Van Wyk’s private store. ‘Art Through The Eye of An Artist’ is also the first showing of Van Wyk’s new technique which uses semi-precious rocks as its raw material. In a room off the main gallery, patrons are invited to witness the artist’s new method under the cover of dark. Small flashlights rest beside each work and as one illuminates the piece, so begins a subtle sparkle. The glittering mimics the twinkle of excitement that animates Van Wyk’s eyes when he speaks about his newest exploration. Though many may know Van Wyk as a visual artist, an educator and the founder of Rehoboth School of Arts, fewer people can imagine him as a twenty-year old prospector searching for gold in the Hardap region and in the Khomas Hochland. “I’ve been in the prospecting world for more than 40 years, even during the colonial times. I was planning to open a gold mine, but I was blocked everywhere,” says Van Wyk. Andrew van Wyk with his family and National Art Gallery of Namibia staff members. “So, I decided: ‘Man, I am an artist, I’m going to do something else.’ I use platinum group metals and gold powders in my artworks. Not every person in the world will find the colours that I have found over more than forty years,” he says. “My process is a water process. This is the first type of this art that is hanging inside the National Art Gallery of Namibia because no artist in the world has ever thought of this new technique.” In an artwork featuring his new method and called ‘Who are we! Where do we come from! Where are we going to!’, Van Wyk poses the kind of existential question that recurs in his work and continues in his motif of eyes, which also appear in the exhibition’s title. “The human being’s eye is your microscope. Through my microscope over the years, I have created art. Every artist creates art through their microscope,” says Van Wyk. “But many of us are blind in life. We don’t see, then when something happens, we think: ‘Jinne, but I’m walking open-eyed, why didn’t I ever see that?’. The eye is a blessing and through the eye we become creative people.” Employing the eye as exhibition title, design and as an invitation to look deeper, Van Wyk’s eyes peer from his artworks and ask questions while imploring the viewer to see beyond the physical world and into its parallels, into the artist’s dreams and into the future. “I’m a dreamer and I’m a seer. I can see things before they even happen,” says Van Wyk of his more narrative, dreamlike and fantastical imagery. Warning of the next rains and the folly of looking for paradise beyond that which is all around us, Van Wyk also expands on the recurring images of music in his work. In paintings such as ‘African Rhythm’, ‘The Life of Africa’ and ‘African Rhythms on Another Planet’, Van Wyk creates vivid scenes of dancing and drumming by moonlight, ballet by the sea and a party on another world. “I play music. I play guitar. I play harmonica. My children play music. I teach them,” says Van Wyk. “My whole family are musicians. So, music is part of my life. We human beings are living in the rhythm of life.” At 62, Van Wyk knows a lot about music and about life, but the artist doesn’t have any plans to retire. “An artist must paint till he passes on,” says Van Wyk. “You cannot stop halfway and say: No, I have a retrospective, enough is enough. An artist must never give up. If you give up, then why did you practise art? Just for fun? Only to be in the limelight?” asks Van Wyk. “Being creative is an Almighty-given gift. It’s a wisdom. So, I keep on.” The Artist Hunting – Andrew van Wyk Eager to carry on practising his new technique and determined to look only to the future, Van Wyk anticipates his later years with unwavering ambition. “I have offloaded my 50 to 60-year-old problems. I’ve taken a very light bag, put it on my back and this includes only new visions,” says Van Wyk. “If the Almighty allows me to get to the seventies and beyond, I will practise my new art technique because I have something to show the world.” ‘Art Through the Eye of An Artist’ will be on display at the National Art Gallery of Namibia until 14 June. – martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter and Instagram; marthamukaiwa.com The post Van Wyk Retrospective Looks to the Future appeared first on The Namibian.

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Bank Windhoek Triennial makes bold return The prestigious Bank Windhoek Triennial is set to inspire a wave of self-reflection, creativity and innovation as the initiative makes its return after a significant hiatus. Launched at the National Art Gallery of Namibia (NAGN) last week, the countrywide competition invites visual artists to explore this year’s theme ‘Namibia’s Identity: The Linework of a Country’s Contours and Wealth’. Applications will be available from 20 May and the due date for artworks is 20 May 2026. Artists from all regions and at any stage of their career are invited to take part. “The Bank Windhoek Triennial, in partnership with the NAGN, is once again proud to invite Namibian artists to participate in the sixth edition of this esteemed competition,” says Bank Windhoek’s head of sponsorships, Bronwyn Moody. “The triennial is more than just an exhibition. It is a mirror held up to society, reflecting our collective journey with endless possibilities. This platform is also where bold ideas take shape, where tradition meets innovation and the universal language of creativity speaks louder than ever,” Moody says. “This year, we delve into the layered and nuanced concept of nationhood, inviting artists to reflect on the question: What does it mean to be Namibian and how does this identity shape artistic practices today?” In keeping with the theme of identity, a Bank Windhoek Triennial launch piece by artist Petrus Shiimi employs the lines of a fingerprint within a Namibian map to highlight the country’s unique geographic contours as well as its singular beauty and diversity. NEW ENERGY Though the triennial has been absent since 2020, primarily due to the NAGN’s navigation of new leadership, the need to fix structural damage and upgrade facilities, the gallery’s chief curator, Ndeenda Shivute-Nakapunda, ensures the public that the institution is in good shape to move forward with the esteemed event. “We’ve got a facelift. We’ve got new leadership, lots of energy and we’re excited to engage with our artist community and bring together an amazing show and great competition,” says Shivute-Nakapunda. With new leadership, comes some changes including building capacity in the regions and doing away with competition categories. “Regional representation is key to the competition and because of that, this year we’ve partnered with art extension officers to ensure that artists in the regions have access to information about the competition and the support that they need in order to develop their work,” says Shivute-Nakapunda. “The second big thing is that we’ve got three main prizes. We do not have categories. The first main prize will be a N$50 000 prize paired with a solo exhibition here the at the NAGN. The second prize will be N$35 000 and the third N$25 000,” says Shivute-Nakapunda. “The top three winners will be supported by the NAGN after the competition to further develop their careers, whether it’s applying to residencies and getting their work to beyond the Namibian audience and internationally.” The Bank Windhoek Triennial will also include a category for emerging artists – under 35 years old – who will join the NAGN’s existing emerging artists programme. These artists will be supported through studio visits and materials and assisted in developing a full, marketable body of work. “Many artists have won this competition and have gone on to thrive in their artist careers,” says Shivute-Nakapunda. “We look forward to supporting even more artists to becoming household Namibian names and even international brands.” While the Bank Windhoek Triennial offers the opportunity to shine as an individual artist, the competition also presents a platform to explore Namibian identity as a collective. “We have our individual identities but together we form a collective. A fingerprint beautifully represents this as well,” says NAGN director Michelle van Wyk. “To all the artists who take part, whether you’re picking up a brush, whether it’s a soldering iron, a grinder, a piece of cardboard or a jeweller’s saw frame, for the first time or you’ve been creating for years – it’s important that you embrace this platform,” says Van Wyk. “We cannot wait to see how this challenge of the norm sparks conversations for inspiration and beauty yet to be seen,” she says. “Let this be the competition to be remembered. It’ll be a movement of creativity, collaboration and community.” Artists can download a Bank Windhoek Triennial application form at bankwindhoek.com and at nagn.org.na from 20 May. – martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter and Instagram; marthamukaiwa.com The post Bank Windhoek Triennial makes bold return appeared first on The Namibian.

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Now Showing: Promising Student and Vivid Veteran Art As winter begins to tame city dwellers’ social lives, Windhoek’s visual art scene provides an eclectic indoor excursion. From students making their National Art Gallery of Namibia (NAGN) debut to veteran artists Andrew van Wyk and Pieter Basson offering retrospectives and novel explorations, art enthusiasts are invited to come in from the cold to consider some of the city’s newest and celebrated artists. Mind-bending and metaphorical, Van Wyk takes patrons down the proverbial rabbit hole in ‘Art Through the Eye of An Artist’, which is currently on display in the NAGN’s lower gallery. Presenting a selection of prints, paintings and lithographs inspired by diverse Namibian culture, politics, socio-economics, music, myth, rhythm and dance, Van Wyk’s retrospective also showcases a technique the artist has been refining on his farm near Rehoboth. The practice, which employs ground and sifted rock, celebrates the beauty of Namibia’s landscapes and culminates in a series of shimmering frames such as the staring and inquiring ‘Who are we! Where do come from! Where are we going to!’. ‘Art Through the Eye of An Artist’ will be on display at the NAGN until 14 June. Down the road at the Franco Namibian Cultural Centre (FNCC), artist Pieter Basson presents ‘Agrafe’. Translated from French, the word ‘agrafe’ means staple or clip and speaks to how art connects ideas, experiences, memories and history to create a meaningful whole. Tipping his hat to Picasso in ‘Memory of Picasso’ and exploring still life in the aesthetics of ‘Sour Champagne’, Basson also dabbles in some surrealism and impresses in his accomplished linocut prints. Evoking images of blue moons and sunny days, freedom, patience, hope and prayer, ‘Agrafe’ will be on show at the FNCC gallery until 22 May. Back at the NAGN and also at the Namibian Arts Association (NAA), ‘Art Splash’, an annual College of the Arts student exhibition is currently on display. Featuring the work of the college’s second and third-year visual art and design students, ‘Art Splash’ is an introduction to some of the city’s budding young creatives. The exhibition is curated by the two galleries and features paintings, drawings, prints, textiles, ceramics, sculptures, mixed media and jewellery at the national gallery and photography at the NAA. Described as showcasing “the future of Namibian art’ in its considerations of the impact of social media, reimagining of black portraiture, promising documentary photography and in its stylish upcycled adornments, ‘Art Splash’ will be on display until 7 June. – martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter and Instagram; marthamukaiwa.com The post Now Showing: Promising Student and Vivid Veteran Art appeared first on The Namibian.

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