001 - Namibia

Ondjembo yo Null Vier
The Gun of Null Vier

Fraitaxtsēs sores tsîn ge ra≠gâ
Even Friday’s Sun Sets

Genocide in Namibia is an especially sensitive matter—its history has at times been ignored, underestimated, or even denied outright.

In the artistic documentary Fraitaxtsēs sores tsîn ge ra≠gâ - Ondjembo yo Null Vier, I worked in close collaboration with Nama and OvaHerero people who vividly evoke memories and rituals of mourning caused by human loss and land dispossession under Imperial Germany’s colonization.

From these personal encounters emerge portraits, visuals and narratives as documental fragments, consisting of living voices which insist on defending memory as an invocation to witness and never to remain passive in the face of social injustice.

Rather than a linear collection of data referring to distant places and its distant past, this work engages with stories as chronicles calling to be recognised as pieces of humanity and time.

Beyond the image lies the reality,

beyond the portraits stands the human,

and beyond all the words is wisdom.

Installation View The Gun of Null Vier
National Art Gallery of Namibia, 2022
130 portraits in a half-circle with double-sided frames and a 3D sound field of voices.
Curated by Tristan Pranyko

→ Exhibition Walk

→ Testimonies (Acoustic Arrangment)

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