Tag Archives: Windhoek

Studio Sale Windhoek

Exhibiting at Roots & Wings (Windhoek)

I am excited to be participating in this upcoming group exhibition, together with many other interesting artists! Curated by Frieda Lühl.

Roots & Wings

Come to the opening on the 10th of November (6pm) at the Project Room, to see how different artists have interpreted this theme. Or, if you cannot make it to the opening, the exhibition will be on view till the 25th of November. It is not long, so do not miss it!

Address: 32 Jenner Street, Windhoek West, Namibia.
Opening hours for the duration of the exhibition:
Tuesday to Friday: 9am – 1pm, Saturday 10am – 1pm
Enquiries: info@frieda.co.za

Unfortunately I will not be present at the opening, but I hope many of you can make it!

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/

Cats Raising Money for Cats

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Everyday, when I switch on my computer, I look at this adorable fluff-ball:

The adorable fluff-ball Princess Clarissa

She is my cat and she is a real princess.

She even has her own throne, on wheels, decorated with the insignia crown of her royal highness…

Princess Clarissa on her very own thrown.

Princess Clarissa on her very own throne.

She’s got attitude, she is goofy and does not care the least what you think about her odd lying positions and her aloof behaviour.

But, do not call her fat. Her sensitive heart is deeply hurt when somebody dares to call her fat – she will never honour you with another glance, never mind a purr….

And to rescue the situation her servant (ie me) has to explain, that she is not fat, it is just that her pretty head is a bit too small, and she has a lot of fluffy fur.

And no – nobody is allowed to touch her silky soft fur! That is just not on with royalty!

Her name is Clarissa.

Named after the great author Clarissa Pinkola Estes.

And Clarissa hails from the SPCA in Windhoek.

I am so grateful to have this little princess in my life and always try to support the SPCA. I believe that they are doing such important work and play a huge role in animal welfare.

Being an artist with a minimal and ad-hoc income I often was not able to support their work as much as I wanted to. But I have found ways and means to support the SPCA and Cat Protection Society of Namibia, for instance, by donating paintings of dogs for their fund-raising auction.

Recently I made a fun painting of a cat and shared it on Facebook. This painting reminded Ms Susanne Jaspert of her own cat, another cat hailing from the lands of SPCA, and she decided to buy this painting.

I was so excited that my pink cat painting found a loving home, as cats and paintings all need loving homes!

SOLD. Untitled, Ink & Acrylic on acidfree paper 170g/m2
29,7 x21cm

What better excuse to donate the proceeds to the SPCA? A cat painting helping the cats and dogs of the SPCA and supporting the work of the people who care for them.

Why am I telling you all this?

Because, I often felt helpless and too poor to help and yet there are so many ways to help out. It does not need to be in big ways. But maybe something you love doing can be donated or used in order to support a cause close to your heart? I hope that this might inspire you to find a way how you can help and remind you to go out and just do it.

Or to adopt your own princess or prince from the SPCA and let them sneak into your heart and soul.

And as I was preparing this post I searched through my photos to decide which pictures to use and as you can imagine, it is not easy if you have the cutest and goofy-est SPCA cat in the world. So here is a small selection which I just have to add, as they also give you a glimpse into how important this cat is in my art making.

: Clarissa, the art critic… she takes her job very seriously and regularly interrupts her naps on her thrown or the stoep for art inspections.

: Clarissa and her buddy Willi (who has passed away) almost perfectly imitating the male-female crosses of my artworks.

: Back-up support and sharp nails to keep me going while I am busy working at the computer. (Yes, that is my bum on the tiny front part of my chair, while she is doing the back-up purring on the main part of the office chair.)

Walking Through the Night Sky

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My last post was about the blue, blue skies with beautiful white clouds…

But, do you ever walk through the night sky? Touch the stars with your toes and breathe in the darkness of the universe?

I do.

Sometimes.

(Title: Walking Through the Night Sky, 1:16min, by Imke Rust)

Just press play to start the video.

It is soft and bouncy. Just me on my journey through the stars which sometimes tickle the soles of my feet, when I pay close enough attention…

I made a video of it, the old-fashioned, stop-motion way. My camera did not catch the amazing Namibian night sky with its plethora of little stars, but you can at least see some of the big ones.

This post is dedicated to the awesome poetess Indigo Spider (if you have not checked our her fine spider web-weaving, delicately crafted and powerful writing, please do so), who commented on my last blog that she prefers the night skies over the day skies.

So I thought, wait a minute, I have something very special to share with you. An artwork, which also still needs to see the light of day…

Thank you, Indigo Spider, for being a kindred soul, virtual blogging friend and continuous source of inspiration and support!

Enjoy watching the short video!

PS. I miss the warm summer nights of Windhoek, when I can be outside and play like this forever.

Exhibition to end gender based violence

Exhibition opening: 27 June @18h00, National Art Gallery of Namibia

BangBang

BangBang (Acrylic on hardboard, box-framed, 40 x 35cm by Imke Rust)

“BangBang” is a colourful, lighthearted and quirky artwork, open to interpretation. To me it speaks about the dance of love and relationships and their shadow sides, such as the often invisible power-struggles and emotional violence happening within relationships or stigmatization directed against gay people.

The dance of love (or any relationship) needs awareness, mutual respect and sensitivity. If we do not have that, the world seems upside down and we are spinning helplessly in a cycle of unconsciousness, leading to hurt and pain (or in the worst case violence).

Lets dance with each other in the beautiful consciousness that in each of us is a divine soul that needs to be acknowledged and nurtured.

The work is for sale. If you like it, why not come over to the National Art Gallery and buy it? 🙂

I am happy to announce that my artwork has been selected for the exhibition UNITE to End Gender Based Violence. It will be on show, amongst several other great artworks by Namibian artists, at the National Art Gallery of Namibia from the 28th of June till the 2nd of August 2013.

Don’t miss the opening, which takes place on the 27th of June 2013 at 18h00. Namibia’s First Lady, Madam Penehupifo Pohamba will be the keynote speaker. Unfortunately gender based violence is on the increase in our society and a pressing and disturbing problem which needs to be addressed. I hope that this exhibition can play an active role in making us aware that this issue concerns each of us and help us to find solutions.

If you are in Windhoek please come and see the exhibition and show your support for this important matter.

Unite to End Gender Based Violence Exhibition Poster

Secret ingredients for making rain…

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Ok, I have decided to share my secret list of ingredients for making rain with you 🙂 .

When we wish to manifest a different reality in our lives, we must firstly set a clear intention. Then we need to put the energy closest linked to that state into a creative act – such as art, music, dance or a ritual. Add a huge bucket of trust and stir in hands-full of patience. Regularly add generous amounts of gratitude and sprinkle with as much fun and creativity as you can find. Decorate with light-heartedness and celebration.

As you might have guessed, this is an update on my last post “Waiting for rain” and you are probably curious to hear if my little rainmaker was successful.

After I made my ‘little rainmaker’ and writing about it in my last post, nothing much happened for a few days. And I started to get doubts. Maybe the rainmaker was too small? Or maybe the stone which I selected, was wrong – after all, it came from the Namib desert, a place which seldom sees rain. Maybe it just had forgotten the feeling of rain? So just to be absolutely sure, I decided to remind the stone and myself of the feeling of water, by making it stand in water, and refilling the water every day, saying my thanks to nature.

There was some rain on the 4th of February, but not much. Just enough that I decided to re-draw the cloud image and rain drops on the stone, as the image has been washed away a little bit. Through doing so, I reaffirmed my gratitude for every little drop of rain that we are getting.

All the time I regularly thought about our believes and superstitions surrounding rain. As kids we were told that eating up your food would allow it to rain and I still say that to friends when they are over for dinner. In Namibia we also say that you must not run to take down the washing from the line, when the first drops fall, as this will surely chase away the rain…

So when the first drops appeared I rather took a picture of my washing and the drops, happy about every little bit of moisture and not worry about it getting wet. Quietly celebrating each one of the few drops which our sky managed to squeeze out of the promising clouds. Even if once again, the drops stopped coming soon after they started… (Note to self: the washing believe does not seem to hold water in either a literal or figurative way. 😉 )

Raindrops on my washing

First raindrops on the new rainmaker (7 Feb)

On my birthday, the 7th of February, maybe as a special birthday gift, we had the first real rain. (Another note to self: it really takes a lot of patience, trust and many little prayers of thanks to get it to rain, but eventually it will rain.)

Ok, I acknowledge that I hoped the little rainmaker would bring lots of rain within two or three days. But maybe I just need more practice and more faith. And at least making and nurturing the little rainmaker gave me a sense of being proactive and positive in a time, when many people are starting to be talking about the imminent drought that we might be facing this year with a doomsday face and spreading the fear.

I learned that even if we can (and should be able to) influence reality with the right intentions and actions a little bit nature still has a way of following its own rhythms, but it might also be reminding us of some valuable lessons. We have been blessed with several really good rainy seasons and we have started to take water for granted again. We have wasted water, used it without being conscious about our actions or without remembering how very blessed we are and saying thanks.

And even if my little rainmaker has not yet brought Namibia or my garden the wonderful rains which I hoped for, I still have faith that we will also survive this year and this season.And that the rain might still come…

Last, but not least the little rainmaker provided me with regular joy watching the wild animals coming to drink from my installation. In the very first picture is a wild yellow mongoose and below is a red-eyed bird. I do not know the scientific name of the bird, but I happen to know this bird personally, as I had the pleasure to share its life for the past few months. She and her husband have nested in my garden and I could watch them raise their young chick, teaching it to fly and celebrate life.

Red-eyed bird drinking from the rainmaker installation

Waiting for Rain

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It is very hot and dry. All Namibians are yearning for the rain to come. So am I.

I have decided to make another, small ‘rainmaker’ work and place it in my garden in hope to set the right energies free to let there be rain. I have made my first “Rainmaker” artwork in 2010. You can click here to be taken to pictures and information on that 🙂 .

For some time now I have been experimenting with the idea that combining creative energy and ritual with the right intentions should be able to influence the ‘reality’. In simple terms: I am trying to figure out, if a rain dance can really produce rain.

And if so, what ingredients are needed? Are there specific magical forms, rhythms, sounds or actions that are needed? Do we really need to dance to get rain, or could it be another creative expression? (Since I am not a dancer, this question is actually quite on top of my list…)

While I am still hoping to one day stumble on a copy of “Rain Dancing for Dummies”, I have settled to do a lot of reading in related matters, from traditional beliefs and cultures from all over the world to artists who have explored similar concepts, like Joseph Beuys.

And while I am at it, I thought, it will not harm to start experimenting with it already. So here are some pictures of my drawing of a raining cloud made to focus the intention on the reality which I would like to see and feel.

I have made it a few days ago and yesterday there were some promising clouds but no rain. Today there are some more clouds, so I am keeping my fingers crossed… and my intentions focused on the cool refreshing wetness of rain…

Rainmaker on my stoep (local word for verandah)

Rainmaker on my stoep (that is what Namibians call a verandah)

20cm high flat stone, sepcially collected for this purpose from the Namib. I made the drawing with white Chalk drawing.

+-20cm high flat stone, specially collected for this purpose from the Namib. I made the drawing with white Chalk, so that it can wash off with the first rain…

Some clouds in the sky in the day I have made the drawing.

Some clouds in the sky on the day I have made the drawing.

Works sold in aid of the SPCA and Cat Protection Society

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Two of my older works about the human-canine relationship as a metaphor for power relations on a personal, social and political level, have been sold as part of an auction to raise money for the local SPCA and Cat Protection Society.

I am excited to be able to help in a small way and support the great work these organizations are doing. And we are working on another idea of selling some more of my works depicting dogs and cats via Facebook. So soon you could hopefully become the owner of one of my works and at the same time doing something good for all the homeless pets out in Windhoek. I will keep you posted.
Till then you can see the two works which were sold already:

Wishing you and your best friend a happy day!