Notes

The present lot by Namibia’s master linocut artist records a historic service in the Lutheran Ovambo-Kavango church in Namibia during the country’s struggle for independence. On 11 May, 1973, unknown saboteurs, widely believed to be South African security forces, blew up the church’s printing press in the town of Oniipa in Ovamboland. Rebuilding the press became a powerful symbol of Namibian resistance, completed in 1975 after an international fundraising appeal. That year, a huge gathering of 10 000 people celebrated its reconstruction at a church service to mark the rededication of the press. It is that church service and celebration that Muafangejo captures in this work.

Literature

Alan Crump and Olga Levinson (1988) John Muafangejo (1943-1987), Johannesburg: Standard Bank and the 1820 Foundation, another impression of the edition, plate number 19.