Tag Archives: land art

Heute im Deutschen Hörfunk in Namibia…

Once again apologies to my English followers, as I am now posting an interview in German, which we had today in the German Radio in Namibia.

Heute waren Steffen und ich beim Deutschen Hörfunk der Namibian Broadcasting Cooperation (NBC) und wurden im Auftakt zu der Namibia Premiere unseres Filmes von Ralf Boll interviewt.

Wer es ‚live’ verpasst hat, kann sich hier das Interview noch einmal anhören. Es gibt eine kurze Filmkritik und dann ein recht launiges Gespräch mit dem super Moderator Ralf Boll.

Um das Interview zu hören, bitte einfach oben Start drücken.

Der Film wird morgen am 14ten Januar im Goethe Institut in Windhoek gezeigt. Wir freuen uns, wenn die Einblicke in unser Leben und Schaffen euch neugierig machen. Lasst euch diese (einzige) Filmvorführung in Namibia nicht entgehen.

Ralf Boll, Steffen Holzkamp und Imke Rust im Studio 5 der NBC, Deutscher Hörfunk Namibia. (13 Januar 2016)

Film Revue: An Infinite Scream

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Source: Film Revue: An Infinite Scream

(Sorry to all English subscribers, today I reblog an Afrikaans review about our film which will be screened tomorrow, 14th January, at the Goethe Institut in Windhoek @ 19h15)

En nou vir die van julle wat Afrikaans praat, ‘n Film Revue in Afrikaans van die wonderlike Daniël Bezuidenhout a.k.a Thulana wat met haar woorde en taal kan toor.

Lees gerus ook ‘n bietjie van haar ander blog posts, so mooi geskryf met ‘n wonderlike sin vir humor en interessante stories oor haar lewe in Ghana.

Dankie Daniël!

“Elkeen van ons wat soos ‘n volstruis met sy kop in die sand staan, en vertrou die regering sal na al jou belange omsien, moet ‘n slag staan en wonder hoe goed dit uitgewerk het vir die Boesmans.

In ‘n aangrypende artistiese dokumentêr, “An Infinite Scream”, kry die Imke Rust jou kop uit die sand. …lees meer hier

Finally! A new year, a new blog post and an important event to announce!

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Firstly I wish you all a very happy, adventurous, creative, healthy and awesome 2016!

I hope this will be the year where you make your dreams come true, create the reality that you want to see and find joy and gratitude in your everyday life. That is my motto, not only for the New Year, but for every new day. And added to that, I want to push myself every day to creatively and fearlessly express who I am. How about you? What are your visions and desires for 2016?

I have been quiet on the blog for some time… I am spending time at home in Namibia, with my family, meeting friends, relaxing and creating. Basically replenishing my soul and soaking up the sunshine, warmth and familiarity of home.

Clarissa, my cat, inspecting the last painting I have done in 2015 – an impression of a wild mongoose who visits us daily.

Home. Returning to Namibia after almost two years of absence has stirred my mind and body in interesting ways. I realise that finally our house in Germany feels more like a home to me, while Namibia and my family home here, where I have spend so many years of my life, has moved into an uneasy place of feeling powerfully familiar and at the same time somewhat distanced. Things have changed, things have stayed the same. I have changed and grown. I am curious to see how my life and I will evolve in the future.

You can view some of my everyday impressions from Namibia on my instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/imkerust/

And as promised an event announcement:

Finally we will be presenting ‘An Infinite Scream’ – my husband, Steffen Holzkamp’s documentary film about my land art project – in Namibia! On home turf so to say.

It took some time before Namibians can finally see the film and obviously I am curious and nervous as to how it will be received. So I (and Steffen) hope that if you are in Windhoek on the 14^th of January you will join us at 19h15 at the Goethe Institut. (it is FREE!!!)

By the way, Namibia only had a Goethe Centre up till now, but since 2016 everybody is very excited to have it turned into a Goethe Institut. We feel very honoured that one of the first official events in the new Institut will the Namibian Premiere of our film.

Why would you see the film? Well, if you are interested in nature, environment, the desert, Namibia and/or the arts, or if you simply like me or what I am doing, then this film offers you a unique and thought-provoking view. Some serious and some fun.

It is more than a documentary.

It is an artist portrait and a project portrait. It is a reflection on what individuals can do to make the world a slightly better place. It is a beautiful mix of art, nature, society and action…

Most people only ever see the final exhibition and have no idea how it came about. If you have ever wondered how artists think, why and how they create and all the things that happen behind the scene, before you get to sip your wine at the exhibition opening, this film will give you a lot of insight into my personal way of creating.

I know I might be biased in more than one way, but I do think there is a certain magic happening when you have a very talented filmmaker and musician, who happens to know you well enough to perfectly reflect your ideas and works through his film.

This film was not planned to be a film. When I started out with my work, I simply thought it would be awesome to have the making of the individual pieces documented and fortunately Steffen was happy to do that for me. Only later, when the exhibition finally happened, after the original venue had suddenly rejected it, Steffen had the idea to turn all his filmed material into a documentary… and spend about a year on this labour of love. Thank you so much, Steffen, for all your hard work and dedication, for your beautiful pictures, music and your vision to pull this all together.

So if you are curious, we warmly invite you to come and see it.

It is not only free of charge, but you also get the chance to meet up with us and ask us questions afterwards 🙂

We are looking forward to meeting you there.

Please also feel free to share this information and invite your friends along. After all, the more the merrier.

Namibia Premiere: An Infinite Scream (Poster)

Concerned about the ever-increasing uranium mining in Namibia a local artist sets out to give the Namib Desert a voice: An Infinite Scream

The Goethe Institut proudly presents the Namibian Premiere of a documentary film about Imke Rust’s land art by Steffen Holzkamp.

Date: 14th of January 2016
Time: 19h15 (Duration: 45min)
Venue: Goethe Institut, 1-5 Fidel Castro Street
Free Entry
Artist and filmmaker are present.

Trailer and more info at: https://aninfinitescream.wordpress.com/

Kreativ im Grünen – Land Art Workshop

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(Apologies to all my English-only readers. I am offering a land art workshop in Germany and so this post is in German. If you have any questions regarding this workshop, please use the comments option below and I will gladly answer you in English.)

Sehnen sie sich auch nach neuem Ausdruck, Natur und kreativem Schaffen?

Der Frühling ist die perfekte Zeit auch unsere Seele aufblühen zu lassen und neue Impulse in unser Leben zu bringen.

Lust auf etwas Neues und eine Auszeit vom Alltag? Dann lade ich sie herzlich ein, gemeinsam mit mir ihre Kreativität und die Natur neu zu entdecken.

Sie brauchen keine Vorkenntnisse, nur Offenheit, Freude an der Natur und Lust sich auszuprobieren.

webIRust_DSC02090(c)

Ziel des Workshops ist

zu inspirieren
die Freude am kreativen Schaffen und Ausdruck in und mit der Natur wieder zu entdecken.
Grundkenntnisse über die Möglichkeiten und Vorgehensweisen bei Land Art zu erwerben.
den bewussten Umgang mit der Natur, Materialien und Prozessen zu vermitteln.
Spaß am gemeinsamen Gedankenaustausch und kreativen Schaffen haben.

Wann:                       Jedes 2te Wochenende oder auf Anfrage (der nächste Termin: 9./10. Mai)

Samstag 12h00 – 18h00 und Sonntag 11h00 – 18h00

Treffpunkt:               Atelier Imke Rust, Birkenstr. 11, OT Neu-Friedrichsthal, 16515 Oranienburg

Teilnehmer:              3 bis 6 pro Workshop (nur mit vorheriger Anmeldung)

>>> Bitte mitbringen:

Offenheit, Neugierde und Phantasie
Skizzen- oder Schreibblock oder Papier, Bleistift, Radiergummi
Wenn vorhanden: Fotoapparat, Taschenmesser, Korb oder Tasche zum Sammeln von Naturmaterialien
Wetter und naturtaugliche, bequeme Kleidung und Schuhe
Mittagessen – zum Teilen und gemeinsamen Essen
Etwas zu trinken für unterwegs.

Tee und Kekse für zwischendurch stehen bereit.

Wir werden Zeit draußen im Wald und auch im Atelier verbringen. Alles ist in kurzer Laufentfernung.

Nächste Termine:

9. -10. Mai 2015 (Samstag 12h00 – 18h00 und Sonntag 11h00 – 18h00)

23. – 24. Mai 2015 (Samstag 12h00 – 18h00 und Sonntag 11h00 – 18h00)

6. – 7. Juni 2015 (Samstag 12h00 – 18h00 und Sonntag 11h00 – 18h00)

Auf Anfrage gestalte ich auch gerne Workshops zu anderen Zeiten (min. 4 Teilnehmer).

Über mich, Imke Rust:

Ich bin eine namibisch-deutsche Land Art und multimediale Künstlerin, aufgewachsen in der Wüste Namibias. Seit 5 Jahren pendele ich zwischen meiner Heimat und Deutschland, zwischen Wüste und Wald. An der Universität von Südafrika absolvierte ich mein BA Degree in Visual Art und bin zweimalige Gewinnerin des wichtigsten Kunstpreis Namibias, der Standard Bank Namibia Biennale. In zahlreichen Solo und Gruppenausstellungen wurden Arbeiten von mir weltweit ausgestellt. Über ein Stipendium des Deutschen Akademischen Austauschdienstes (DAAD) kam ich 2006 das erste Mal nach Berlin.

Als Kuratorin der National Art Gallery of Namibia konnte ich auch fundierte Kenntnisse der Business-und Managementseite der Kunstwelt erwerben. Des Weiteren habe ich ein umfangreiches Kulturaustauschprojekt zwischen Namibia und Berlin mit einem deutschen Partner initiiert und über mehrere Jahre geleitet.

In meiner eigenen Kunst zieht es mich immer wieder raus in die Natur. Meine Freude am kreativen Schaffen teile ich gerne, unter anderem mit einem Land Art Projekt mit 8 afrikanischen Künstlern im größten National Park Namibias (Etosha), einigen Kunst Workshops in Namibia und Berlin, Installationen im öffentlichen Raum und über meinen Blog.

Ich freue mich darauf meine vielseitigen Erfahrungen, Tipps und Wissen mit euch zu teilen und euch bei der Entstehung eurer eigenen Land Art Arbeit zu begleiten.

Kennen sie jemanden der sich für diese Workshops interessieren könnte? Dann wäre ich ihnen sehr dankbar, wenn sie diese Information mit ihnen teilen!

Hier noch ein paar Bilder von vorherigen Workshops und eigenen LandArt Arbeiten:

Imke Rust

Leopard and man on ice in the forest

New Forest Explorations

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Untitled nature art by © Imke Rust

On the weekend we explored a new piece of forest close to our home. I enjoy that there is still so many interesting places we do not know all around our new home and especially so much nature. The days are slowly getting longer and occasionally the sun shows her presence. I am deeply grateful for that.

Have you ever considered how conditioned we are by the environment we grow up in, and that we are familiar with? Have you felt overwhelmed by new landscapes in a positive or negative way?

I realised that I am still feeling unfamiliar with the environment and that whenever I am outside I enjoy getting to know and experience all these unfamiliar impressions, like a tourist would do. But just like a tourist, I am still very aware of not belonging. It takes time, but slowly I am feeling a bit more familiar with the forest, the weather, the space and the animals around.

With all this nature around us, I found it strange that so far I had not felt called to make any art outside. Once I realised this, I also understood that it does take time to adjust to a new environment, especially if it is so much the opposite of what you know.

I can now already identify a few local birds and trees by name. I am getting a bit more used and comfortable with the winter weather and the wetness of this area. I have watched deer grazing, a fox walking past, studied a red kite circling above our heads and now I have also seen my first wild boars in the forest! They saw us first, so to be totally honest, I just saw three large dark backs running away from us in a split second.

All this makes me feel blessed and honoured to get to know this world.

This weekend, on our walk through a forest, I suddenly regained the spontaneous inspiration to experiencing my surroundings creatively. While my husband continued his walk I stayed behind and just started. I found some wood shavings from a freshly cut tree and nearby a small V-shaped tree who called me….

It felt really good to be creating out in nature again and becoming aware of the challenges of a winter forest landscape. So different to a sunny desert plain…

Anyway here are a few pictures of my latest land art piece and I hope it will be followed by many more soon!

(Please click on the images for a larger view. Then use the arrows on the sides to get to the next image.)

: Close-up

: Side-view

: Detail

: Me with the completed work and a dozen layers of clothes…

PS. Just a few meters away from this work is the Oder-Havel canal, and at some stage I turned around to this:

Nawa = Good!

NAWA!

That moment when a ship passes you on an outing to the forest and reminds you all is well, and does so in a language you only associate with home i.e. Namibia… For the non-Namibians: Nawa means ‘good’ in Oshivambo and is used pretty wildly, even by non-Oshivambo speaking people.

Imke Rust – Wieviel Namibia steckt in ihrer Kunst?

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Imke Rust – How much Namibia can be found in her art?

Last Tuesday was one of those nervously exciting days… I have been invited for an hour-long interview on Deutschlandradio Kultur. The interview forms part of a series called ‘Im Gespräch’ – I would translate it as ‘In Conversation’. Interesting and inspiring people from many different backgrounds are invited to share their thoughts and experiences during these interviews.

Imke Rust busy making the SubRosa Artwork. Photo by Steffen Holzkamp (c)

I felt so honoured and grateful that they have invited me! And at the same time, I realised how big this is, and how much I want to make it count and how scared I am of me messing it up.

Even though I have talked publicly before and believe that I am usually faring quite well, nevertheless I still get nervous as hell. Fortunately the preparations team was super and the interviewer, Britta Bürger, was awesome and I felt safe and welcome.

Once my nervous coughing subsided and we were on-air the time passed so quickly. Before I knew it we were done. It felt as if I woke up from a dream, but have totally forgotten what it was about, except for a faint, very vague memory.

I only arrived home late that evening after a busy day in town. When I switched on my computer, I was overwhelmed to see so many emails of friends and strangers congratulating me and commenting on the interview. I was even more overwhelmed to see that almost 400 people have visited my webpage and clicked through many different pages. Wow – this was an absolute sky-rocketing record for me.

I am so grateful that people have listened to my interview and felt it was interesting enough to find out more on my webpage. Thank you!

For everybody who missed it, if you are curious to hear me talking about my background, Namibia and my art, you can still listen to it on the archive page of Deutschlandradio Kultur, by clicking on the link below. Sorry, once again this is only in German without any translation.

I have had several requests to have my webpage and blog in German. Strangely my German writing is not as fluent, even though it is my mother-tongue. And as much as I wish I could share everything in German too, I just do not have the time to translate it myself or the money to pay for somebody to do it for me. Maybe one day I can change that!

Ok, here is the intro to the interview.

Die Namibierin Imke Rust steckt schwarze Rosen in die Wüste, klebt Regenwolken auf Felsen und lässt Plastik-Goldfische in Eis-Bächen schwimmen. Häufig sind es symbolische Kunstprojekte, mit denen die Künstlerin vor der massiven Umweltzerstörung warnt, die Namibia durch Uran- und Phosphatabbau droht. Sie ist die Nachfahrin einer weißen Missionarsfamilie, die in das damalige Deutsch-Südwestafrika auswanderte.

Click here to read more and listen to the interview.

Klick hier um weiterzulesen und das Interview zu hören.

We are talking more about this artwork: Coat of Arms by Imke Rust

We are talking more about this artwork during the interview: Coat of Arms by Imke Rust

Falling in Love With the Unknown

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Cherry Blossoms Close-up

On Easter morning we went for a cycle trip, when we noticed that the street was lined with thousands of pink flowers. More leaves were floating down from the pink blooming cherry trees with every new breeze. What a beautiful view!

A lady was watching from the window ( I heard that this used to be regarded as the favourite pastime of Germans for many years, before TV took over), as we stopped and started to pick up hands full of these fresh blossoms and packing them into my shopping bag. Curious about our actions, she asked, what we plan to do with it and was not too impressed when I told her that I do not know.

I really did not know. I just knew they were pretty, they were abundant and available and easy to collect. And I knew I would find something to do with it…

For two days I just did not have the time to even think about it. On the third, I knew the time is running out, as the petals will start to rot. I enjoyed watching the petals float from the trees, so I thought lots and lots of floating petals would be something fun to film.

Fortunately my husband and his daughter had a bit of time and were willing to assist me on the very vague idea and so off we went with some cameras, the buckets of petals and – in the last moment I thought of taking along our mirror as a large round shape.

The vague idea turned into a bit of frustration, as we tried to find a way of doing it and make it look good. Look good for me from an artist point of view and look good for my husband who is the expert in filming. But the beauty of creativity and working with what you have, is that if one idea does not work out, there are millions of possible alternatives. And there is always something one can do.

Maybe it is not the grandest of projects or delivers the most spectacular results, but we sure had lots of creative fun, excellent teamwork and a great time together. There might be a short video one day and there are some photos.

And we brought some excitement and beauty to the life of some people and dogs who passed by ‘a woman in a tree playing cherry blossom fairy’…

Being the cherry blossom fairy sprinkler

Alarmed dog who was not allowed to investigate

The camera crew seen from up the tree

Creative assistants having fun

View from the tree: My favourite image…

Displaced mirror with petals

Finished Work: Spring Circle

Last days of summer

My artwork seen from space

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Wow – what a surprise! I just realised that Google has updated their satellite views, and one can clearly see my land art installations ‘Salt Circles’ right from outer space! Isn’t that cool?

Land art installation ‘Salt Circles’ by Imke Rust, as seen on Google Satellite View. (Correct Coordinates: 22° 36’ 21” S,14° 31’ 51” E)

I have taken this photo from my screen, but you can go and have a look on Google Maps/Satellite View yourself. (Coordinates: 22° 36’ 21” S,14° 31’ 51” E)

Even if one cannot see each circle on its own, one can clearly see the smallest and largest circle and some lighter/white shade in between.

And I have another special treat for you! Outer space pictures are amazing, but looking very closely at something is equally breathtaking. Here are some close up pictures, taken by my father a few months after completion of the installation:

chestnut banded plover in the centre of my salt installation

Chestnut banded plover (near threatened species) in the centre of my salt installation

While photographing the salt circles for me, my father noticed this chestnut banded plover (thank you to Jean-Paul Roux for pointing out the correct name) in the centre of the circles, and the bird did not want to leave, dispite all the action. So on closer inspeciton my father found the reason why it was spending time in the centre of the salt circles:

Strandloopertjie nest with eggs

Yes, she has choosen the salt ridges of the circles as perfect shelter for laying her eggs. 🙂 🙂 🙂

The artwork was supposed to be a symbolic blessing and protection of the surrounding land. The concentric circles were selected as a shape to symbolise the outward ripple-effect which I hope this blessing and protection would have. To me the nest of the bird seems to confirm in a small but beautiful way, that my intentions are recognised and appreciated by nature.

Another close-up view

For more information and pictures of this artwork, click here.

Film production almost completed

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An Inifinte Scream – The Documentary: Trailer

How did you make this? Where do you get all your ideas? Why are you working with salt? And what is a Tokoloshe Trap?

Did you ever wonder about these things when you see my art? Well, this time you are lucky and soon you will get some answers.

Documenting SubRosa IRust (c)

We have made a documentary film about my latest land art project ‘…and I sensed and infinite scream passing through the Namib’. It gives you a great behind-the-scene glimpse into the project and an insight how I work and think.

You can join me in the exciting journey from the making of the artworks, the thoughts behind them, the challenges along the way and finally the exhibition. It is a personal portrait as much as a film about the art and its role in society.

Until we can finally publicly release the film, you can already view the trailer and check out the film’s webpage. It will give you a taste of what to expect in the full documentary once it is released. Do not forget to sign up for the blog to find out when and where it will be screened. (I will also keep you updated here.)

A great thank you, to filmmaker and my partner Steffen Holzkamp for the excellent work and the super-cool film. I am really looking forward to sharing the full film with everybody soon.