Yes, it is true. This weekend I appeared back to back with Madonna right here in Berlin. You are right, my musical talent sucks, but my art is getting more and more famous.

Ok, I did not appear on stage, but while the superstar Madonna got the front page of the cultural supplement of the German magazine “Der Tagesspiegel” this past weekend, my artwork appeared on the very next page – basically back to back.

I have to admit that I am not a fan of her music, but I do really admire how she has made it from a small unknown girl to become one of the most famous female musicians in the world, with pure guts, hard work and determination.

And I am just overly excited that I, a ‘small Namibian girl’, am having a solo exhibition in Berlin and getting a prominent mention in a leading newspaper… I hope that this is another small big step towards making my mark in Germany and get some more recognition (and sales) for my art. It would be wonderful if my artwork caught the eyes and attention of a small percentage of their 350 000 readers.

The more attention my art gets the more attention the subject and cause behind the exhibition will get:  Raising the consciousness about our Namibian environment, especially the coastal area and Namib desert and the possible threats from the mining and other industries and pollution.

Here is a cut-out from the newspaper:

Tagesspiegel 30 June 2012 Cultural pages with a picture of my work SubRosa.

The caption says:

” Black barbed wire roses in the Namib. Today the exploitation  looks differently than in the times of the German colonial power. The landscapes of Namibia are threatened by the mining of natural resources and pollution. The artist Imke Rust lives in Windhoek and Berlin. She protests with her ‘land art’ – here the installation “SubRosa” – against the destruction of the nature. “Goldgräberstimmung”: Photos and videos by Imke Rust can be viewed up to the 16^th of July in the Berlin Grafik Studio Galerie Neumann (Rigaer Str 62). “

If you are interested, you can read the online version of the “Tagesspiegel” here.

Info about the work:

SubRosa (Under the Rose) by Imke Rust

 Temporary installation in the Namib Desert Dune belt south of Swakopmund.
22° 43’ 01” S – 14° 33’ 47” E
Original dimensions: 90 x 270 x270cm
99 roses made of black rubbish bags, barbed wire, wire
April 2012