A LANDMARK exhibition, ‘Roots of the First Tree’, will open at the National Art Gallery of Namibia (NAGN) on Thursday, 29 August.
Featuring oil paintings, water colours, lino prints and sculptures made by Ju|’hoansi, !Xung and Hai//om artists from resettlement farms in the Omaheke and Ohangwena regions, this will be the first comprehensive exhibition of contemporary San art ever to be shown at the NAGN.
The book ‘Roots of the First Tree’ by Karin le Roux will be launched at the exhibition. It is an evocative description of the author’s collaborative (and transformative) art journey to remote Namibian resettlement farms to work with emergent San artists between 2002 and 2019. It also features a gallery of works produced by the artists over a span of 17 years.
Now known to be the most enduring population in all human history – and the largest human group anywhere on earth up till 20 000 years ago – the voice of the San has rarely been heard above the noise of modern politics. Art has proved to be one of the most compelling mediums to help the artists themselves carve a path in a radically transformed and transforming new world. The exhibition will be opened at 18h00 by Peter Katjavivi, National Assembly speaker.
– National Art Gallery of Namibia
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