The Goethe-Institut Namibia in collaboration with StArt Art Gallery, is pleased to present a takeaway exhibition for the ‘Family Matters – Familiensachen’ project. This project was initiated by the Goethe-Institut Namibia in late 2019 and explores various aspects of the social family unit in seven African countries. In collaboration with their respective Goethe-Instituts, creative content producers in Angola, Burkina Faso, DRC, Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda and South Africa worked to record and tell the stories of 29 families covering subjects from religion and finances to marriage and travel.
The content of this project is showcased online via the Goethe-Institut Namibia website, as well as in the form of a ‘pocket exhibition’ or zine (a small-circulation, self-published pamphlet). With the intensity of the pandemic in Namibia and the inability to host a traditional exhibition, this pamphlet functions as a takeaway exhibition that can be collected and explored in conjunction with the website. The zine is available locally in Namibia. You may also download the zine.
“Photographs and films depicting Africans are inescapably tied to colonial histories, when they were first used to create patronising and problematic depictions to satisfy an ethnocentric and western gaze. Over the past few decades, this narrative has been challenged by creative producers living on the continent, who have taken these mediums and re-moulded them. The fragments of this project, brought together here, are all part of this growing body of respectful representation and self-reflection.” – Helen Harris & Gina Figueira (StArt Art Gallery) exhibition curators.
The exhibition launches on 28 July 2021 at 6PM (CAT) online via Zoom. All are welcome to attend. The online launch will consist of a virtual walkthrough of the zine followed by a walkthrough of the website and a discussion with some of the participating content creators. RSVP for the online launch.
For more information on the gallery please visit www.startartgallery.com
