Nicola Brandt explores ‘The Earth Inside’

SOME photographs are so good that they are able to string you along onto a surreal journey beyond your comprehension and this is exactly what Nicola Brandt does with her exhibition, ‘The Earth Inside’.

Currently on display at the National Art Gallery of Namibia, Brandt’s pieces will enthrall you. From the piece titled ‘The Watch Tower’ to the reality of ‘Inheriting Loss’, each photograph tells a riveting story that pulls viewers in.

A must-see includes ‘The Salt of August’. Every shadow and paw print makes you wonder – what passed by? Why are there traces of buildings and tempests that swept over the land in the dead of the night? Such out of place objects are nestled into the ground, and this is fascinating.

And how could ‘The Watch Tower’ remain unmentioned? This piece captures Uakondjisa Kakuekuee Mbari, a well-known designer and jewellery maker, near the Herero and Nama graves in Swakopmund. Mbari stands at the entrance of an obliterated building that almost looks like it has merged with the sand over the years, wearing traditional Herero attire.

Most of Brandt’s pieces are a lovely demonstration of the history that lies beneath the sands of our land. As bare and empty as it may seem from the outside, our country holds a piece of us in each particle that blows along the lands, because as we know, sand never dies.

The desert has witnessed tears, bloodshed and torture that generations before us were forced to endure and as a nation, it is up to us to hold hands and move together towards a better tomorrow.

“We cannot capture what it was like to be involved in those catastrophic events 100 years ago. But it is still a living issue that gets mixed up with our own sense of identity as Namibians,” said Brandt.

The exhibition includes a lovely triptych video titled ‘Indifference’ directed by Catherine Meyburgh. Viewers can expect to see fragments of the photographs. Its enchanting nature will hypnotise any viewer who opts to watch the 14-minute film.

The show is curated by Vid Simoniti, and the score for some of the videos are composed by Rolfe Kent.

“If we are to deepen the policy of national reconciliation, we need to reach out to each other. For Nicola, this has been a personal journey of self-discovery, learning about the Namibian landscape, exploring her country’s past and how it relates to the future,” said professor Peter Katjavivi, guest speaker at the opening of the exhibition.

‘The Earth Inside’ runs until Friday, 22 August.