Strauss Lunyangwe
WINDHOEK – Nesindano Namises has delved into her artistry by developing a show called theKhoest. Khoes, as she is known, tells the story of transformation and visibility, which is expressed through poetry with experimental sounds and chants, in Khoekhoegowb.
The show kicked off on 28 June in Berlin where she performed at the Fusion Festival, a music and arts festival, which has a countercultural character in northeastern Germany. She is also scheduled to perform at Skandeløs, Südpol, and Zugvogeldone in Hamburg until 2 August.
TheKhoest is a performance piece, which was developed during a workshop session some time ago, and it was inspired by creating art and having a new narrative on journeying into mutual pasts, towards future presents, and beyond afro futures.
‘’It is an interpretation of how one journeys throughout time and space despite certain discomforts. How the body is in charge of the way the discomforts impact us over the long run. It more specifically relates to stories of women in history and more so about my story and it’s healing intention’’ she explained.
The tour was arranged by Meera Theunert Kulturflut Skandeløs e.V, a young event promoter who saw theKhoest for the first time in March in Stuttgart, Germany, this year. Theunertis is backed by Kulturflut Skandeløs, the organising body.
Khoes feels that after her tour, she will come back and host the event at home. “It will be great to be able to perform it in Namibia but the request came immediately after it started in March. So, we saw it as a chance that it could grow and get much more visibility where it was born with the hope it will generate enough funds to continue,’’ she said.
The artivist, as she refers to herself, feels that there is a lot of talk about colonialism in Namibia that people are consistently reminded about it, which created a platform for her to create tolerance and acknowledgement as it is part of Namibian history.
It is not about a suffering victim of discrimination but somebody who was oppressed that is on a journey to move forward. It is about women embracing the power of knowing where they come from, what they can achieve, and the pain and hunger is part of healing, satisfaction and fulfilment.
“I want to be able to take our stories to these spaces, specifically in Germany where people lack awareness of the genocide that happened here. It’s disappointing not knowing the past as that is the only way we can look forward to the future. This is a way of Ubuntu because you don’t find it in a European context that much,’’ she said