Can YOU help bring this NEW, breath-taking exhibition to the Brunei Gallery in London from 11th July through to 22nd September?
The stories, songs and experiences in Namibia during the worst of the South African apartheid regime tell of great joy in a time of oppression. Read more about this unique opportunity to be a part of history, with the School of African and Oriental Studies.
Get involved, get engaged. Join the crowd-funding or corporate funding campaign to bring the exhibition to a wider audience – before it returns to Namibia.
More About the Exhibition and Why it Matters
The Namibia Project has been contacted by Dr Angela Impey from the music department of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) regarding a one-of-a-kind exhibition planned to come to London in a few months’ time.
Why are we doing this?
The answer is simple: it’s all Namibia.
We’re always pleased to support other campaigns. Namibia, its people, environment and culture are close to our hearts. And, we know that it’s a part of the world that touches many of you, too. Our recent “Night for Namibia” event at The Wisley has shown us that together, we’re a fund-raising force to be reckoned with. So, let’s enable visitors to “Stolen Moments – Namibian Music Untold” to learn and understand more about why we do what we do.
How Much is Needed?
SOAS needs to raise £5,000 to cover the costs of transporting, setting up and running the exhibition. This is YOUR opportunity to contribute to the crowd-funning campaign or, as the owner of a business, to become a corporate funder. Why not click here to make a donation?
The Exhibition
Taking place at the Brunei Gallery in London from 11th July – 22nd September, 2019, “Stolen Moments – Namibian Music Untold” is the first and only undertaking to chronicle and display the popular culture of Namibia during the period of South African rule from the 1950s through to the 1980s.
It has been curated by Namibian and German scholars, as well as members of the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation. The exhibition will feature photographs, music and film about the popular music and dance styles of the period.
Freedom through Music
Almost impossible to comprehend, freedom of expression was just one of the brutal restrictions imposed on a proud country whose people had simply been born in the wrong place with the wrong skin colour.
In a time of oppression and state control, music-makers and the music fans alike found a way. They made use of church halls, “shebeens” (illegal drinking houses), dance halls and anywhere they could find to sing, dance and enjoy the music otherwise denied to them via white-owned record companies.
Simply put, there were very few Namibian bands on the airwaves. Thus, with home-grown live-music versions of rock and pop from all over the world, as well as local music, an escape of sorts was possible.
Creative ways to swerve the heavy censorship imposed on the Namibian people were found, too, with political views expressed in live performances or displayed on record covers.
The Time is Now
“Stolen Moments – Namibian Music History Untold” comes at a particularly appropriate moment in history.
Under German colonial rule, “the forgotten genocide” took place from 1904 to 1908. Forgotten no more, the German government has agreed to discuss reparations for the atrocities that took place under its governance. We await developments with interest.
The exhibition also holds a mirror up to Britain’s often over-looked engagement in the history of Namibia and in Africa in general. We’re hoping that Namibia’s story will start to be told more widely and with a greater sense of understanding. After all, our past throws light onto our present and our future.
This important exhibition aims to share histories of racial injustice and how resilience, creativity and determination have fought against it.
Where Has The Exhibition Been?
Already a success at the Basler Afrika Bibliographien, the Iwalewahaus, University of Bayreuth, and the Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien in Berlin, “Stolen Moments” will, after its stay in London, return to Namibia where it will be toured around the country.
What Can You See at “Stolen Moments – Namibian Music History Untold”?
There’s going to be lots to see, hear and experience, including:
A large-scale photography exhibition
14 “listening stations”, featuring 9 different radio stations
A 90-minute documentary film that re-visits the dance styles of the thirty-year period
A substantial collection of images of bands, record covers and pictures of music venues
How Can YOU Help?
Here at the Namibia Project, we’re so very grateful for your support and commitment to our charity. But we need to maintain our efforts and our commitment.
SOAS and the Namibia’s Project’s trustees would like to reach out to you for funding for this unique exhibition. Without your generosity, the money needed for all the logistics to get everything organised and established at the Brunei Gallery may not be enough to bring this important part of our history to the attention of the wider public.
SOAS needs to raise £5,000. Click here to donate to the crowd-funding page, or email
ai6@soas.ac.uk. If you would like to offer corporate funding.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Contact us today to find out more.
Namibia Project