The College of the Arts (COTA) on Wednesday paid tribute to the late Founding President of Namibia, Sam Shafiishuna Nujoma by showcasing 17 artworks through an exhibition.

One of the creatives, Petrus Shiimi (34), said his artwork, a hardboard sculpture of the late founding president, took him about seven days to make.

™I started making it about three days after hearing his passing. The hardboard concept is a template to honour Tatekulu. When I get a buyer for the work, I will make one out of metal. Now I could not afford metal because it is quite costly,∫ said the visual artist who is an alumnus of COTA.

Shiimi said the piece is 1.4 metres in height, 1.2 metres in length (from left to right) and 50cm in width.

™This artwork is called The Reflection of our Founding Father. I wanted to show that as Namibian visual artists, we can produce quality work and that companies don’t need to rely on foreign sculptors. I have seen institutions in this country where their artworks are made by foreign creatives ± this while we are here,∫ he said.

Ndasuunje Shikongeni, popularly known as Papa Shikongeni said his students created wonderful work that truly reflected on who Nujoma was.

™Being the founding father, he always had the quote `A nature without culture is like a tree without roots’, and art forms part of culture. So, we organised this exhibition to commemorate the fallen hero, to celebrate his legacy that made it possible for us to have free artistic expression in our country,∫ he said.

Shikongeni said they wanted to show their appreciation for the art industry by highlighting the importance of visual arts.

™That is why the College of the Arts, and the ministry of education needed to have something for him as he was one of those people who valued art through education, and that is why we wanted to show appreciation,∫ stated Shikongeni.