SWAKOPMUND – Finding a job or making an honest living in a foreign land where citizens feverishly scrape for the odd job is a daunting task but Tyty N’Kongolo is adamant that he will become the next best thing on the Namibian arts scene.
He draws the most colourful and detailed pictures depicting the daily lives of African women in particular. “I want to show our lives, our culture to everyone coming here to Namibia. I want to use my paintings to explain to them how we live and how hardworking our people are,” says the Congo-born painter as he squints his eyes against the sun. Selling the African way of live can be a pleasurable foresight, but convincing onlookers to drop a few notes in exchange for one of his beautifully festooned canvas sheets can become a nightmare sometimes. “I sometimes go one week without selling but we do sell regularly but there are days that no one is buying,” he says.
N’Kongolo has a Diploma in Arts, which he gained from the Academia of Arts in Congo. After finishing these studies he taught Arts for six years in his home country, which he left for Zambia. After Zambia he moved to Namibia and has been here for the last three years. He also draws cartoons and has done a few depictions, specifically for a local newspaper, and is yet to take it to news rooms.
By Jemima Beukes