Inversion of the Printed Image: Namibian Perspectives of John Muafangejo
The late John Ndevasia Muafangejo is regarded as a pivotal figure in Namibian Gallery Art for the integrity with which his linocuts presented a Namibian perspective in South West Africa, within the era preceeding independence in 1990. Although he died in 1987,1 refer to Muafangejo as Namibian on the grounds that the central theme in his work of fostering holistic integration and reconciliation was the main policy adopted upon attaining independence. This approach was evident not only in Muafangejo's incorporation of his Kwanyama heritage into an urban Christian way of life but also in iconography, which he appears to have used to denote his name. In Kwanyama, the name Ndevasia given at birth by his father means "to shield, protect, and nurture" and Muafangejo, the first name of his own father, "you look just like me;' a recognition of equality. Ndevasia Muafangejo could thus be understood as "protect and nurture recognition of equality." A significant feature of his work is the inclusion of lino-text which not only establishes a dialectical relationship with the image but facilitates interjection by the artist contextualization to bridge differences in context. In assessing his work it is therefore essential to respect Muafangejo's recognition of the relatively arbitrary nature of signification and acknowledge the voice in the lino-text. We will accordingly endeavor to relate both the image and text to the circumstances within which he produced the work and also examine interpretations of his work in terms of parameters of particular contexts of encounter.