Namibian art at Turbine Art Fair

Namibia will be in Johannesburg this weekend as the art of Ndasuunje Papa Shikongeni, Lok Kandjengo, Andrew van Wyk, Gabriel Maposa and Nicky Marais makes its way to the Turbine Art Fair via Guns Rain.

Founded by anthropologist, art entrepreneur and author, Dr Julie Taylor, Guns Rain is a curated online gallery exhibiting work by established and emerging contemporary fine artists from all over Southern Africa.

Though based in Johannesburg, Taylor’s interest in Namibian art began over a decade ago when she started visiting the country to inform the anthropological and development studies research that would eventually culminate in ‘Naming the Land’ – Taylor’s book exploring San identity and community conservation in the West Caprivi.

Currently one of the only online art platforms exhibiting Namibian art, Guns Rain is the digital manifestation of Taylor’s interest in the “intersection of technology, the creative spirit and the under-representation of African fine art in the global economy.”

For the Turbine Art Fair, however, the online gallery will embark on an offline adventure as Guns Rain’s Southern Africa collection showcases a selection of Namibian fine art at the four day fair.

The Turbine Art Fair will take place in the iconic Turbine Hall in Newtown, Johannesburg and serves as a platform for galleries, artists, curators and other art organisations to promote emerging and established talents in an accessible and engaging way.

“I believe that Namibian artists need greater exposure in South Africa, and South Africans need to learn more about Namibia, its history and its visual arts,” says Taylor.

The art fair includes a daily talk programme featuring influential South African speakers from the spheres of art, collecting and design as well as a special offering from the Johannesburg Art Gallery which will be showing work from some of the greatest artists of the 20th and 21 centuries.

These include Pablo Picasso, Lucien Freud, Salvador Dali, Roy Lichtenstein and Damien Hirst, the Turbine Art Fair is set to attract a diverse crowd of artists, enthusiasts, collectors and curators.

Eager to showcase Kandjengo’s “bold, stylised, assured printmaking,” Marais’ striking use of “pattern, repetition, symbolic imagery and abstract forms that originate in nature,” van Wyk’s “strong influences of the Damara, Nama and Baster cultures” and Shikongeni’s pioneering of “novel techniques in printmaking using cardboard, ink and linoleum” on and offline, Guns Rain’s efforts are both innovative and inclusive.

“When I started Guns Rain, there was no question as to the representation of Namibian visual art, which deserves to be showcased to international audiences,” says Taylor.

Deserving, digital and now at the Turbine Art Fair, Namibian art is certainly intriguing. And now easily available online.

For more info contact julie@gunsandrain.com or visit gunsandrain.com. The Turbine Art Fair takes place from 16-19 July. Go to turbineartfair.co.za