Omdis residency brings Oranjemund art to Windhoek

Woven, painted and mixed media impressions of nature and the people who call Oranjemund home are at the centre of this year’s Omdis Artist Residency Exhibition.

Currently on display at the Namibia Arts Association in Windhoek, the exhibition features the work of Lynette Diergaardt, Susanne Blochberger and Haymich Olivier.

As part of the residency, the artists were invited to expand their creative practice at the Oranjemund Art Centre while sharing expertise and collaborating with local artists and students.

“The Oranjemund Art Centre has great pleasure in presenting the innovative and delightful work created by our residency artists during this cycle,” the centre says in the exhibition’s curatorial text.

“The aim of hosting artist residencies in Oranjemund is twofold: to inspire local artists and crafters by exposing them to the professional practices of visiting national and international artists of calibre, as well as to present Oranjemund to the national and international artist community as an arts hub of excellence in southern Africa,” the centre says.

“This commitment aligns with the Namibian Arts Association’s strategy to create platforms that support the development, visibility, and professionalisation of Namibian artists.”

For Olivier, a renowned Namibian dancer and choreographer, this invitation resulted in a number of paintings and drawings inspired by the natural world and drawing on elements of dance. The exhibition is Olivier’s first gallery showing and marks the end of his chapter as a longtime educator at Windhoek’s College of the Arts in paintings such as ‘Moving Forward’ and ‘Free as a Bird’.

In her elegant cotton rope and twine necklaces, small scale crocheted tapestries and woven baskets, Blochberger elevates craft to fibre art while remarking on the things the river leaves behind and the gridlines of memory. Blochberger assisted in establishing the Oranjemund Art Centre in 2023 and continues to educate local artisans regarding craft technique, pricing and marketing.

Presenting a striking collection of woven portraits of participants, Diergaardt expands the potential of her fibre art through explorations of honesty, wisdom, loyalty, gentleness and luck. Each are traits which the participants use to describe themselves. Meticulously weaving on an eight-shaft loom, the artist creates complex and vibrant works which include her handpainted ‘Kaleidoscope’ in the gallery foyer.

Each advancing their practice while engaging local artists and students, this year’s Omdis artists-in-residence cohort continues the good work of one of the few, if not the only, immersive artist residencies in the country.

The Omdis Artist Residency Exhibition will be on display at the Namibia Arts Association until 4 September. Artworks are for sale.

– martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Instagram; marthamukaiwa.com