ART FOR CUBA
ART FOR CUBA
30 artists. 90 works. One act of solidarity.
This is a first for Namibia.
Never before have our artists stood together as one nation to reach a nation across the ocean. Not a single gallery. Not a single movement. A country’s artists, side by side, answering the same call.
I have never hung a show like this one. When we asked, I hoped a handful would answer. Instead, some of the most important names in Namibian art walked through our doors, alongside young artists whose names you will be saying in ten years.
The masters.
Joseph Madisia. Printmaker. Sculptor. Founding member of the Tulipamwe International Artists’ Workshop. The teacher behind a generation of Namibian artists. To have his work on these walls, for this cause, is an honour. Papa Shikongeni. Madisia’s student, and a master in his own right. Cardboard print, rhythm, spirit. An artist who has always believed art should bring people together, never divide them. Alpheus Mvula. Cattle in print, in marble, in stone. Collected around the world. Urte Remmert. Stitched, torn, layered. Portraits that carry the stories of Namibia’s women and children.
The makers.
Ina-Maria Shikongo. Textile banners that fight for the earth.
Elisia Nghidishange. Printmaking and linocuts from Eenhana, where she runs a studio teaching children to make art.
Jo Rogge. Heidi Louw. John Sampson. Trevor Nott. Michelle Roux. And so many more. Painters, printmakers, sculptors, makers, from every corner of the country.
The next generation.
Young artists, hanging beside the people who taught them.
Why it matters.
Every work is an original. Every sale goes to the national campaign Namibians in Solidarity with the People of Cuba.
It buys medical supplies and solar units for rural health centres in Cuba. So a nurse can keep the vaccines cold. So a doctor can see a patient after dark.
You take home an original by a Namibian artist.
A clinic in Cuba gets light.
Buy the art. Light the clinic.
Be part of history. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.
Con todos, y para el bien de todos.
With everyone, and for the good of everyone.
Marcii Magson
Director, BELLHAUS
