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Stolen Moments - Namibian Music History Untold is a celebration of the stories of Namibia’s unsung musical heroes. It revives Namibian underground pop culture from the 1950s to the late 1980s - a period that marks some of the harshest years of racial discrimination under the South African apartheid regime that followed German colonialism.
The exhibition reveals what back then remained almost unheard by a large part of the population due to censorship and segregation. This is the story of those who, despite the propagated oppression, formed bands, resisted this cultural imposition, followed global trends, experimented with traditional sounds, played every weekend in backdoor ballrooms and danced their way through decades of extreme racial injustice.
Curated by Namibian scholars and produced in co-production with an international group of artists, filmmakers and photographers, the exhibition showcases an extensive photographic collection, a 120min. video projection that revisits the dance styles of the 1950s-80s, 14 listening stations featuring Namibia’s music legends, a sound installation that explores a selection of over 100-hours of interviews with musicians and contemporary witnesses and a large collection of and record covers and music memorabilia which profile Namibia’s much under-represented musical subcultures.
The artists of the visual works are David Megameno Akumoto, Julia Hango (Juliart), Dieter Hinrichs, Julume J. Ipinge, John Liebenberg, Steffen List, John Muafangejo, Kapanda Nangombe, Sandile Pazvakavambwa, Bernard Santos, Filipus Sheehama, Papa Ndasunye Shikongeni, Romeo Sinkala, Andrew van Wyk and Stephan Zaubitzer.
Stolen Moments – Namibian Music History Untold premiered at Iwalewahaus, University of Bayreuth in Germany in 2016 and has been shown in Basel and Berlin. For 2020 it is envisioned to tour Namibia as part of the country’s 30th Year Independence celebrations.
Further information https://www.soas.ac.uk/gallery/stolen-moments/ email gallery@soas.ac.uk recorded information +44 (0)20 7898 4046
University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London
