Rudolf Gaiseb
Poetess Jemima Ndebele hosted a poetry night at Vinyls Music Café in Windhoek’s Zoo park on Friday evening, providing a platform for seven incredible poets to recite their inspiring poems to a stunning audience.
The performers consisted of A.B. Dool, A.H. Does It, Puppy Weebs, Pharaoh Akia, Bupe, Julio and Ndebele.
The theme of the debut poetry night at the café was ‘Love and Liberty’, inspired by this year’s Valentine’s and Independence days.
“Every month, we have two open mic nights, particularly the first and last Saturdays of the month, for various poets to participate and feel comfortable to share their art and use the audience on that specific day as a soundboard.
We then shortlist them, and invite them to perform at our poetry night events. The open mic allows us to see the skill and potential, capture these folks, and exhibit their gifts,” she said.
Ndebele, a journalist at a local daily, added that these events are important to diversify the entertainment landscape in Namibia.
“We ensure the entertainment landscape is diversified and caters to people with different interests, who sometimes just want to be immersed in a space full of creatives, and to be moved by words and how they create worlds. I think these events are very important, not just for the audience, but also for the performers.
“As much as we have many gifted and talented writers in this country, their stage presence and delivery are scarce. Therefore, these events provide performers with the opportunity to hone their talents,” she stated.
Ndebele added that from the Valentine’s and Independence days, love and liberty are things that stand out from the beginning of the year up to this point. So with this edition, they hoped to explore a theme that is relevant to the month in which it is happening, and also considering Africa Day that was celebrated on 25 May.
“I think we all share a common love for our African continent, and the fact that we are liberated as a country on this beautiful continent is something that needs to be celebrated through the art of the spoken word.”
The next poetry night will be held before the end of June at the same venue.
Poet Ahdoesit Linyando expressed gratitude for the opportunity, and shared that more opportunities like this will help more poets share their gifts and talents with the world.
“It was an awesome event because being part of the performers and all that, I had to do justice to poetry. Just talking about the space, if you must look at the Namibian poetry, there are not really a lot of platforms exhibiting poets. So, many thanks to the host for the invite.
Linyando added that being at the event allowed him to learn from different creatives.
“Besides my unique style and the ability to write on any subject, just being with other poets, I had to become accustomed to their different styles as well.
“On the other hand, something I really expect is poetry events whereby we can really talk about our culture. Because most of the poetry events that we attend… it’s like we have adopted European cultures. That’s why for this particular event, I had to perform with the nuances of the olden days.”
“In the future, we could have those events whereby we could get back to our culture. Remind ourselves that as Namibians, we hold this greatness. So, how do we tell our own stories? We can’t be telling other people’s stories. We have stories as well that need to be told,” Linyando stated.
Uejaa Kahirimana, a rising star in the music industry, added vibrancy to the night with slow jam musical performances, complementing the poets’ utterances.