The article examines three contemporary artistic responses to the genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples, which was carried out by Germany colonial forces between 1904-1908. It challenges the way that this event has frequently been characterized as a “forgotten genocide.” While it may have been willfully forgotten in Germany, it is very much remembered in Namibia. The article examines artworks and a public monument commissioned by the Namibian government from a North Korean state art firm, a photographic series by the German-Namibian artist Nicola Brandt, and an installation by the Herero artist Isabel Tuemuna Katjavivi. These projects intervene in the contested politics of memory surrounding the genocide in Namibia. The comparison also shows how the way the past is remembered can open or foreclose possible futures.
Paul Wilson publishes article in African Arts
By Jennifer Jolly, February 17, 2023
Paul Wilson, from the Department of Art, Art History, and Architecture, has published his article “Remembering the Herero-Nama Genocide in Namibia” in African Arts, the leading journal in the field of African art history.
Cover of African Arts
The article is based research carried out during Wilson’s 2018 Fulbright Fellowship at the University of Namibia. It can be accessed here: https://muse-jhu-edu.ezproxy.ithaca.edu/pub/6/article/882195/pdf