Young visual artist shows the way

Nambowa Malua, 26, is establishing himself as one of Namibia’s most sought-after visual artists. This coming Wednesday his first solo exhibition opens at the Namibia Business Innovation Village in Windhoek. Having a solo exhibition at his age is something uncommon and is a testimony to Nambowa’s talent, creativity and hard work. He has been making waves on social networks with his thought-provoking and often compelling paintings. Most of them are portraits and capture emotions. Nambowa has become the artist everyone wants to work with. Born in Angola in 1988, Nambowa traveled a lot and was exposed to many environments. This, he says, was among the many influences that nurtured his love for art. He has lived in Angola, South Africa and Namibia. It was the Land of the Brave Namibia that he studied visual artistry at the University of Namibia (Unam). One of eight brothers and sisters, Nambowa says his parents have always been supportive. His older brother studied fine art at the University of KwaZula-Natal. He lights up when he speaks of his brother, who taught him to draw. His brother has since become his mentor and remains his biggest motivator. Tjil meets Nambowa at his apartment in Windhoek’s Ausspanplatz area. His balcony, he explains, is his little studio. It’s a very artistic environment, but it’s also unexplainably peaceful. A drawing that he is busy with is lying on the table. “I’m a bit of a perfectionist. That’s why I sometimes struggle with deadlines,” he says. Nambowa explains that he is an Illustrator. He does both digital work and traditional painting, and adds that digital painting is quite new to Namibia. Nambowa says that he has also fallen in love with concept work for the entertainment industry. “I have come to love character design for movies and music videos,” he says. Asked what the greatest challenges are facing visual artists in Namibia, the calm illustrator says that most of his clients aren’t Namibian. “Local arts in general need more Namibian support. Parents should also encourage the arts more, and support their children who want to pursue a career in it,” he says. He says that support is needed, as creating art is generally expensive. “Materials, studio rentals and everything else are expensive,” he says. However, confident he is confident that the local art industry will eventually get there. “The industry is pretty small. We need more young people to put their work out there. We will eventually get there,” he says. Nambowa explained while he does many different things, portraits are his favourite. “I am inspired by people. I love people and I love drawing portraits,” he says. Nambowa explains everyone is gifted, but it’s creativity that shines through in the end. He’s first solo exhibition is titled How Eye See and opens at 17:00.