14 Dry River Beds. A Guided Tour

Title: 14 dry river beds
Subtitle: A guided tour
Author: David Jacobson
Publisher: Basler Afrika Bibliographien
Basel, Switzerland 2009
ISBN 9783905758115 / ISBN 978-3-905758-11-5
Hardcover, 24 x 16 cm, 36 pages, 14 illustrations

About: 14 Dry River Beds. A Guided Tour

This is an explanation of "14 Dry River Beds", a part of my work in progress, "Interpretations of History" and "We are Diaspora". The "14 Dry River Beds" are the result of my return to Namibia after an absence of 33 years. I couldn't think of a better metaphor for how I felt than the dryness that one experiences in Namibia, the draught, the constant heat and the fact that the rivers have very little water in them other than for a couple of days a year. Coincidentally, while I was working on this project, on these montages, I was also working on a project in the United Kingdom, in Hexham, Northumberland, where I was re-creating a 100 meter long section of river through the suburb Cockshaw Burn. This contradiction or these opposites, on the one hand working with the Environment Agency Flood Defences Scheme and on the other hand with drought, was pertinent to what I am about to say regarding the "14 Dry River Beds".

I want to add that you're seeing the "14 Dry River Beds" at an exhibition at the Basler Afrika Bibliographien (BAB) in Basel, Switzerland. This is the first time they've been shown in their entirety. The works are not in sequence. The reason they aren't in sequence is important. One could be passing any of these rivers at any time and in any direction and you'd see what you're seeing in these montages that include photographic images, objects, text and drawings. In other words one image can look very much like another, but there's a relentless beauty about this in Namibia, and it is quite relentless. The route is the B2 from Windhoek/Okahandja to Swakopmund. It was on the return journey, from Swakopmund to Windhoek, when the photographs were taken. So we will now begin as they are laid out here in the gallery. My work can be seen on website www.davidjacobson.co.uk as well.

David Jacobson, a sculptor and artist, works in and on landscapes and built environments. He has exhibited extensively in the UK and internationally and is past editor of SCULPTURE 108, Magazine of the Royal Society of British Sculpturs (RBS). Having been born in Windhoek in 1951 a second-generation Namibian to Jewish parents, he left South West Africa in 1971. He only returned in August 2003 to an independent Namibia intending to repeat the rite of passage for his generation, to drive on route B1/B2 from Windhoek to Swakopmund and back. A road trip into the Namib Desert. David Jacobson has taught at various art schools and works from studios in Italy and London.

Content: 14 Dry River Beds. A Guided Tour

1. Aruchab
2. Leeu
3. Ondubab
4. Otjizemba
5. Okazize
6. Kranzberg
7. Okakoara
8. Otjikako
9. Waldau
10. Ekararu
11. Ozombanda
12. Albrechts
13. Okaganga
14. Otjitundu