The Passage, 2014

Embodying Memory

The Herero dress is a symbol of power, beauty, and embodiment. It also demonstrates the complex relationship between German and Namibian colonial histories. After being invited to wear the Herero dress, which was originally introduced by missionaries and later appropriated and transformed by Herero women who still wear it today for special occasions, Brandt shared many hours of discussions with two Herero women, Uakondjisa Kakuekuee Mbari and Katuvangua Maendo. Through performance interventions in diverse sites in Namibia, the artist, together with Mbari and Maendo, explore their diverse yet entangled inheritances and how these colonial spectres still haunt the present.

Possession (Uakondjisa Kakuekuee Mbari), Namib Desert, 2013

Archival pigment print | Edition of 3 plus 2 AP | 90 × 60 cm

No Monument for the Fallen (Katuvangua Maendo), Otjozondjupa Region, Namibia, August 2012

In this work Katuvangua Maendo, great-granddaughter of Petrus Hiuii, looks out towards land where her people and the cattle of her nation once moved freely, and to the 'Kaiser Wilhelm' Mountain, where a battle was fought between the Ovaherero and Germans in January 1904. According to Katuvangua, whenever Ovaherero pass this mountain, they are expected to remain silent, to honour those who died.

Archival pigment print | Edition of 3 plus 2 AP | 120 × 90 cm

Legacies of Whiteness, Windhoek, Namibia, 2012

Through performance interventions, the artist creates momentary fictions in key historical locations in order to critique legacies of whiteness and white (colonial) womanhood.

Archival pigment print | Edition of 5 | 65 × 43.3 cm

What Remains (Uakondjisa Kakuekuee Mbari), Swakopmund, 2013

Archival pigment print | Edition of 3 plus 2 AP | 90 × 60 cm

Untitled (Uakondjisa Kakuekuee Mbari), Wlotzkasbaken, Namibia, 2012

Archival pigment print | Edition of 3 plus 2 AP | 90 × 60 cm

Captivity, Namib Desert, 2013

Archival pigment print | Edition of 3 plus 2 AP | 90 × 60 cm

Landscapes of Power (Katuvangua Maendo), Windhoek, Namibia, 2012

Here, the Reiter is still in its position in front of the Old Fort (Alte Feste) on the right before being moved for the second time to the courtyard of the Fort, where it is entirely out of public view. In the background, the Independence Memorial Museum towers over the scene. It was built by North Korean contractors for the government of Namibia and was inaugurated in 2014.

Archival pigment print | Edition of 3 plus 2 AP | 90 × 55.5 cm

Remembering Those Who Built This Line (Uakondjisa Kakuekuee Mbari), Swakopmund, Namibia, August 2012

Archival pigment print | Edition of 3 plus 2 AP | 75 × 55 cm