By Frederick Philander NAMIBIAN and African arts and culture have found a new home in Windhoek – 6 Kenneth McArthur Street in Olympia. This residence is known in the tourism industry as Guesthouse Terra Africa, and the Bank Windhoek Arts Festival (BWAF) will in future also use it as a special link to the country’s tourism industry. The Guesthouse Gallery was officially inaugurated last week by BWAF-organizer, Prof. Aldo Behrens, with the assistance of the marketing manager for this bank, Marlize Horn, at a special gala event hosted at the guesthouse. The opening exhibition, entitled “Terra Africa to the World”, showcases art by prominent Namibian artists, Helena Brandt and Hercules Viljoen, as well as works from other Namibian, African and German artists. “It’s projects like these that will ensure that the arts flourish in Namibia,” said Behrens when commencing his welcome speech. Horn emphasized the importance of smart partnerships, also in the arts and cultural sectors of society, to promote the cultural possibilities of the country. “Take note, however,” cautioned Rolf Hansen, managing partner of the guesthouse, “that one should not see Terra Africa as an exclusive and professional art gallery. We are trying to bring our people’s art and culture to foreign guests who visit us, hopefully enhancing the spirit of entrepreneurship and promoting our artists in the arts and crafts they dedicate themselves to creating.” Hansen emphasized that he and his two partners – friend, Hermann Locher, and sister-in-law, Ella Hansen, have taken the collective decision to get ahead of the tourism industry pack to fuse arts and tourism in a new and continuous way to enhance both sectors collectively. “We shall, however, strive to become the best possible guesthouse to each guest who passes through our doors. This will always be the main focus and, as such, Terra Africa should be known as the guesthouse promoting the arts and cultural heritage that make our country so unique.” Adding to this, Behrens elaborated on the plans his festival and the management of Terra Africa have agreed upon to ensure this project grows ever stronger: “We have discussed intimate and exclusive fashion shows, music evenings, projects to get busloads of tourists to visit Namibia on grounds of our arts and culture, and yes, many more art and craft exhibitions to get other such places to join in on the idea.” The current exhibition will run until Friday, 9 March 2007 during the hours of 09h00 and 16h00. For further information, call (061)ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 25ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 2100.