WINDHOEK– Namibian young visual artist, Tity Tshilumba’s, first solo exhibition is now open at Restaurant La bonne Table, titled La passion de vivre (The passion of life).
Kaleb Haipinge who spoke on behalf of Tshilumba on Monday at the opening of the exhibition, says Tshilumba’s artworks give an overview on life in general, teaching people how to respect one another. “Good Night Kiss”, for example, reminds people how they have forgotten about their traditions and cultures of saying good night to loved before going to bed. “One has to look closer to Tshilumba’s artworks in order to understand life is wide-ranging. Although the artworks are giving messages in the form of wild animals, that’s a good way of interpreting and giving out a strong message to viewers, to understanding different views of life in general,” says Haipinge.
One of the masterpiece works of Tshilumba is the one titled Mothers love, with the message that nothing is stronger than mothers’ love. Tshilumba says his personal favourite artwork is the one titled My Lokasie. “I love this painting because I grew up in a quiet location full of surprises. When I first remember where I grew up, I decided to put it in a painting so that people can always have a clue where they grew up and what kind of lifestyle they had back then,” he says.
The exhibition is represented in his figurative paintings, mostly of people, animals and objects of tradition. However, Tshilumba grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where he was introduced to formal art training by his elder brother, first studying ceramics and later drawing and painting at the Academie des Beaux Arts in Lubumbashi. He made a living from doing portrait painting until he had to leave his home country in 1999 to seek shelter in Zambia, and then currently in Namibia. Tshilumba has been living in Namibia since 2010 and has participated in several group exhibitions.
Caption: Some of the artworks by Tity Tshilumba whose exhibition opened on Monday at the Restaurant La bonne Table at the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre (FNCC).
By Pinehas Nakaziko