Flamingo - Art, Craft & Culture - Together for art
Artists’ comments such as: “Brilliant concept!” “It was a true privilege!” and “I experienced a new kind of art for the first time!” reflect the excitement and delight which characterise Tulipamwe workshops and help to ensure their continuing popularity in the international artist and donor communities.
The Tulipamwe Arts Trust was established in 2008 to facilitate and fundraise for the Tulipamwe International Artists Workshops, a regular feature on the Namibian arts scene for the past 15 years. The first Tulipamwe workshop took place at the Otjiwa Game Lodge in 1994 and since then 11 success-ful workshops have been held, benefiting over 100 international artists from Africa and the rest of the world, and even more Namibian professional, emerging and student artists.
The Tulipamwe project was originally inspired by the Triangle artists’ workshop model on which many other similar projects in Africa and other parts of the world have been based. Organised under the auspices of the Visual & Performing Arts Department at the University of Namibia, sponsors and funders have eagerly supported this project in the years that it has been running, largely due to the tangible benefits to Namibian art but also because the project itself is so obviously successful. A roll call of Namibia’s most influential and widely exhibiting visual artists would reveal many Tulipamwe participants, all eager to extol the Tulipamwe phenomenon.
The Tulipamwe Working Group, consisting of volunteer visual artists led by Professor Hercules Viljoen from the University of Namibia, work together to identify and invite possible participants, advertise and organise the workshop, curate the final exhibition and produce a full-colour catalogue at the end of each process.
Last year Tulipamwe took on a new aspect: that of community development. Instead of hosting the annual workshop at lodges and private institutions, it was proposed that the workshop might assist in the development of communities if it were held in small rural centres in Namibia. Not only would the workshop bring financial benefit to the communities for the provision of accommodation, catering and studio space, but it would also include talented local artists in the workshop. Publicity for the town, an increase in visitors and press coverage could boost the town as a tourist stopover and the townspeople themselves would get the rare opportunity of seeing more than 20 artists at work. Of course the advantage to the artists of making real connections with local Namibians is immeasurable.
In 2008 Okombahe was chosen as the workshop venue. Twenty-two artists from all over the world and Namibia descended on this rural town, eager to make art, connect with the locals and learn from each other. Okombahe, situated north west of Omaruru, has a rich cultural history as the Place of the Giraffe and an active Village Council which entered into negotiations with the Tulipamwe Working Group. Accommodation was found for all the participants in the Peoples House of the community and the workshop was a resounding success. Artworks were created, ranging from giant installations in the yard, to miniature sculptures made from seed pods, to yards of textiles and traditional paintings and drawings. Waste dumps were raided for rusted car parts and old artefacts, and the artists proceeded to make art with gusto and dedication. At night the Peoples House resounded with laughter and music as the artists danced around fire, and late-night visits to the Pink Inn, the local night club, ensured that the artists absorbed plenty of local culture! Five community members took part in the workshop, working alongside professional artists, and in the words of Seth Basson from Okombahe, “…learned that one can make beautiful things from scratch, trees and waste!”
On the last day of the workshop, after two weeks of work, Tulipamwe traditionally invites members of the local community, sponsors, friends and the press to an open day to view the work created by the participants. Gasps of awe, delight, astonished silence, disbelief and laughter greet pieces of contemporary conceptual art, often the first work of this nature to be displayed in the town. New visions of the world are brought to rural Namibia, and new responses to art are discovered.
Abneil Enkali, a recent graduate from the Product Development Diploma Course at the College of the Arts, took part in the Tulipamwe Workshop last year at Okombahe for the first time. At 23 he is an exceptionally talented young artist, whose artwork is already eagerly sought by local collectors and who has completed various commissions for Bank Windhoek, among others. In an interview after the workshop he explained his delight with the process: “At Tulipamwe I learned to open my heart and I found the ability to send a message through my art. I spent a lot of time experimenting with new materials and my work improved drastically.”
Uta Goebel-Gross, a participant from Germany, had this to say about her experience: “Local and foreign artists are given the chance to learn how to interact with people of different cultures. For foreign artists in particular Tulipamwe is the chance to be influenced by totally new and interesting surroundings.”
This year Tulipamwe 2009 was held at the Okakarara Community Cultural and Tourism Centre (OCCTC) in the Otjozondjupa Region from 15–29 August. Within sight of the magnificent Waterberg Mountains, Okakarara used to be known as the capital of Hereroland before Namibian independence. Over 25 artists from countries as diverse as Australia, Finland, Germany, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, South Africa, the USA, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe embarked on a new journey of discovery, both within themselves as artists, and of the other artists around them. These artists were confronted with new landscapes, climate and people, different cultures and unlikely materials, which may well change them and their creative approaches forever. Strong friendships were forged and best of all: astonishing art was produced; in such a scenario you can rely on the artists, in combination with their surroundings, to provide that!
For the month of September the Tulipamwe Exhibition will be on display in Windhoek at the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre and the Goethe Centre.
Tulipamwe 2009 was made possible by the generous support of the following sponsors and partners: Triangle Arts Trust, Ford Foundation, Hivos, Swiss Arts Council (Prohelvetia), the Goethe Centre/Nads, the Finnish Embassy, Standard Bank Namibia, University of Namibia, the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre, p.art.ners Berlin/Windhoek, Air Namibia and the Okakarara Community.
