Art 4 U is an initiative of SMEs Compete a consultancy firm that provides business capacity building support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) The exhibition, to be opened on Wednesday evening by newly accredited High Commissioner of India, Tsewang Topden, “Uniquely recognizes the contribution that local artists make to the development of Namibia’s economy”, says the firm’s director, Danny Meyer. The contribution that he refers to is not merely from sales to local art lovers but to discerning buyers from abroad too. It is believed that the country’s export earnings from sale of art amount to millions of dollars annually.
The event takes place from Wednesday to Saturday at the Taal Indian Restaurant located along Windhoek’s Independence Avenue. After the success of the earlier two exhibitions last year the eatery known for its fine Indian cuisine is again partnering with SMEs Compete in the hosting of the third Art 4 U exhibition. The owners of the Taal Indian Restaurant, Navin Morar and Alex Zacharia, and SMEs Compete share a common vision when it comes to helping to build Namibia’s economy.  With the Art 4 U exhibitions they aim to demonstrate support for enterprise and entrepreneurial development in general and for emerging local artists specifically.
According to Alexander, Artists often find it challenging to locate a suitable venue with a higher concentration of potential buyers, where they can then place their work on display and showcase their talents. “Art 4 U exhibition provides such an opportunity for budding artists and strives to help them expose their work to local and foreign buyers”, says Alexander.
This time five upcoming local artists will have an opportunity to showcase their work at the Art 4 U exhibition that runs over four days from Wednesday to Saturday, 11th to 14th April. The ‘old hand’ who exhibited at the first and second Art 4 U exhibition is Werner Mouton. He is joined by Martin Bosman and Maren Malan who both enjoyed impressive success at the second Art 4 U exhibition where both recorded high sales. Newcomers this time round are Suna Schafer and Hester Smith.
Art on display will range from abstract to portraits and landscape paintings in oil, pastel, and watercolours. “As will be seen from the work on display the artists have clearly been influenced by the unique Namibian landscape, colours and the clear and unpolluted natural light”, says Meyer.
Asked why the exhibition is being held at the Taal Indian Restaurant, the owners of the eatery are quick to reiterate their support for entrepreneurship but point out that a delightful painting that is a pleasure to view and Indian cuisine so obviously has a lot in common - they are both works of art. In their view a creative artist spends time conceptualizing an idea and the methodology to be deployed before putting paint to canvas or paper, and so too, much thought goes into conceptualizing an Indian dish before it is actually prepared. The indefatigable entrepreneur Navin Morar adds, “We could think of no more suitable an individual that High Commissioner Topden, to open the event”