Work
“Noah’s Ark in a Sandstorm”(Mobiles by Moreen ǂEichas). ǂGaingu Conservancy, Namibia. July 2018
“Call to ǁGamab”. In an attempt to flag down a tourist vehicle, Alexandrine Hanabis reaches out. Die Kruising (“The Crossing”), Tsiseb Conservancy, Namibia. January 2019
“Save the Rhino”. Roadside effigy by Giulia !Uxams. Septa Aes Farm, Erongo Region, Namibia. July 2018
“Cornered”. Anabeb Conservancy, Namibia. October 2017
“Giraffe”. D2359, Erongo Region, Namibia 2023
“Restaurant on C36”. Okombahe district, Namibia. October 2014
“Uis lokasie”. Many Namibians who lived in racially segregated communities under apartheid continue to endure the miserable living conditions in these historical settlements. Uis, Namibia. January 2016
“Tortoise”. D2359, Erongo Region, Namibia 2023
“Lions at Giraffe Foot”. An abandoned missionary church at !Hai ǂAis aka Kameel Voet that once served a community of tin miners. D1930, Erongo Region, Namibia. October 2017
“Diptych: Fading Oryx”. Mathew Shiwamemi’s painted shack in the DRC informal settlement. Months later the family was evicted from the plot and the shack bulldozed by municipal authorities. Swakopmund, Namibia. March 2013 / March 2014
“The Grocery Store”. D 2319 Tsiseb Conservancy, Namibia. October 2017
“Feat of Clay”. In a water scarce country, this effigy by the Geinkos family could not be finished. Khorixas District, Namibia. October 2017
“Tourmaline Totem”. The Damara people hang bones passed down the generations for their ancestors to protect their belongings, their home and environment. Die Kruising (“The Crossing”), Septa Aes Farm, Namibia. June 2016
“Tree Snake”. Hildegard’s guardian snake that presides over the semi-precious stones at her roadside stall at ‘The Crossing’, Tsiseb Conservancy, Namibia. February 2018
“Springbok”. D2359, Erongo Region, Namibia 2023
“Stripes n’ Things”. Alexandrine Hanabis aka Kuku pulls a wire to animate her ostrich in an attempt to flag down the rare tourist during Covid. ‘The Crossing’, Tsiseb Conservancy, Namibia. February 2021
“Fearless Furless”. Oupa Tolikie’s leopard graces the gravel plains near Burning Mountain. Tsiseb Conservancy, Namibia. February 2021
“Zebra Crossing”. During Covid, Kuku whiles away her time by making new effigies to draw in tourists. Some day. Perhaps. Here zebra and guinea fowl wait at her roadside stall near ‘The Crossing’, Tsiseb Conservancy, Namibia. February 2021
“Hanging”. C35: An isolated gravel road from Henties Bay to Uis. Roadkill? Hunting trophy? Roadside marker? Dorob National Park, Namibia. July 2014
“Taking Flight”. Francois !Uri-Khob’s pigeons on Black Ranch Pos #3, Spitzkoppe, Namibia. December 2017
“The Caged Fowl of Alexandrine Hanabis aka Kuku”. Kuku’s cockerel once saved the life of a Herero man who lost his whereabouts in a thick fog that had swept across from the coast. Without water or food he walked for five days and nights until he heard a cock crow – signalling the presence of humankind. Die Kruising (“The Crossing”), Tsiseb Conservancy, Namibia. December 2014
“I’ll get Rich”. Francois !Uri-khob breeds pigeons to support his siblings after his family lost their goats and donkeys to drought and poaching. Black Ranch, Pos #3, Spitzkoppe, Namibia. August 2017
“The Caged Cats of Axab Pan”. During the day Enkia Seonduru’s cats are a threat to her baby chickens. At night they are released to hunt mice. Axab Pan, Omaheke Region, Namibia. March 2019
“Xoagub’s Ducks”. Kuiseb River Delta, Namib-Naukluft Park, Namibia. March 2016
“Fish on a Line”. Miriam Pokolo’s fish hang out to dry. DRC informal settlement, Swakopmund, Namibia. January 2015
“Shadows and Things”. Karibib District, Namibia. January 2017
“Crows Pickings”. Picnic layby on the C35, Erongo Region, Namibia. January 2016
“Entrapped”. In an attempt to reach a water source, an Oryx’s hind legs get twisted in the fence wires bordering the Namib-Naukluft Park, Namibia. December 2019
“Susanna’s Guinea Fowl”. Black Ranch Pos #3, Spitzkoppe, Namibia. April 2016
“Market Day”. Every month a privately-owned security team, armed with machine guns and finger print detectors, delivers old age pensions and grants for the disabled to rural communities across the country. ‘Outsider’ hawkers wait under nearby trees to cash in. Corridor 17-B, Omaheke Region, Namibia. October 2019
“The Lamb”. Talita Witbooi, shepherdess. From the safety of her ‘shelter’, Talita mourns the loss of her son weeks earlier by snakebite. Tsetsaub Farm beneath the Dâures, Namibia. November 2015
“Waiting for Scraps”. Willemina Jakop draws on one of my cigarettes. Blouberg Resettlement Farm (ownership contested), Omaheke Region, Namibia. March 2019
“Lizard View”. Lauren Eises ‘upcycles’ scrap material. Sorris Sorris Conservancy, Kunene Region, Namibia. October 2017
“Cattle Country”. A Brahman bull statue stands sentinel at the town of Gobabis, its gonads protected by razor wire after ‘molestation’ by school children. Omaheke Region, Namibia. March 2019
“Cemetery Totem”. A cattle-horned totem at the Herero holy burial ground commemorating the victims of the genocide under German colonial rule (1904-1907). Swakopmund, Namibia. April 2015
“Shadow Rest”. When Ouma Maletsky leaves home to dig for semi-precious stones, she leaves a scrapbook and pencil attached to a pole with a note that reads “Take orders”. An ‘honesty jar’ stands nearby for payment should a passer-by be interested in acquiring horns or tourmalines. D1918 #Gaingu Conservancy, Namibia. December 2019
“Reaching Out”. Susanna blesses and guides a tortoise to safety across the gravel road. Katzies Pan on the C17, ǁKaras Region, Namibia. March 2019
“Entangled Bind”. Namib-Naukluft Park, Namibia. March 2018
Noah’s Ark in a Sandstorm
Tourists on so-called wildlife safaris in Namibia usually tick off the vast country (824,292 sq. kilometres) in ten days. The rich diversity of people, cultures and flora and fauna in the sparsely populated landscapes that lie between luxury destinations is seldom observed or acknowledged. Seven years of drought (2016 – 2023), despite being briefly broken in places in 2021, took its toll in all quarters wiping out a large percentage of both domestic and wild animal populations across rural Namibia. During the Covid period one was more likely to see handcrafted representations of animals as stall sellers took the opportunity to re-populate their place in the sand with new sculptural effigies and painted creatures. Along the dusty roads, signboards read ‘$20 a photograph. Help us!’ as communities tried to capitalise on the ‘safari’ theme to lure potential buyers. The seller can sometimes be seen in the distance, running towards the stall to collect coins left in an ‘honesty’ tin. Perhaps.
Margaret Courtney-Clarke, February 2021