The narrative of Namibia’s poetry scene will never be put to bed without the mention of Township Production’s bi-monthly Poetry Project, and its proponent Joseph Molapong.
In fact, one can safely say that Molapong’s vision, for a Namibia filled with wordsmiths, has finally come full circle – having taken many a wanna-be poet on a journey through buoyancy to cynicism and back to optimism again. The successful hosting of the bi-monthly Poetry Project, that has this far seen to so much acclaim with sessions 1, 2 & 3 under various themes, since its launch this February, is the very telltale of this success. All of these events, according to Molapong, have seen an influx of new faces on the poetry arena.
“Session three took place in Windhoek and in Otjiwarongo, with the latter preceded by a poetry workshop conducted over four days by Norman Rongee, an associate of Township Productions,” Molapong maintains. The seasoned poet reveals that the primary objectives of the Bi-monthly Poetry Project are, amongst others, to promote poetry as a creative and sustainable activity on the Namibian arts scenery; to create a poetry platform for younger and established poets to interact and share skills in writing techniques, recitation and performances; and finally, to document poetry activities through publishing, video and audio recordings.
Session Four of the project took place this Wednesday, under the theme The Cradle of Sense: Rebirth of logic with veteran poets, Sibali Kgobetsi and Kuhepa Tjondu. Albeit Molapong, the poetry project is in co-operation with the Goethe Institut Namibia, a long term partner of Township Productions, in promote and hosting poetry sessions over the past three years. Township Productions’ presence on the country’s poetry scene is not seasonal. This arts company has over the years produced various poetry projects, including numerous poetry workshops, four editions of World Poetry Month Commemorations, five volumes of ‘Poetree’ publications, as well as, countless poetry sessions such as; Poetry reading, recitals and a Regional Poetry Competitions for Secondary Schools in the Erongo Region.
The company has also collaborated on poetry related projects with organisations and institutions such as the FNCC, Bank Windhoek Arts Festival and Spoken Word, Grass Roots Slam Poetry, while other collaborative works was done with the Ombetja Yehinga Organisation (OYO) and Arts Initiative-Zimbabwe.