Nicola Brandt

Nicola Brandt  (dem born am for April 5, 1983, insyd Windhoek, Namibia) be a Namibian-German artist working at de intersection between memory studies, landscape, ecology, den feminist den queer theory. Much of ein work uses de metaphor of place den landscape den centres around themes of power, desire, den destruction.  

Brandt's artistic production takes de form of photographs den drawings, multi-channel videos, den installations. Brandt becam bell as a representative of a young generation of Namibian artists, especially through ein new, critical approach to landscape den ein decolonial examination of German colonial history den ein memorial work. She advocates for intersectional solidarity den queer ecologies den dey mentor several younger artists den students insyd related fields.
 Early den personal life 
As a student, Brandt receive a full scholarship for ein undergraduate degree insyd Art History den Humanities insyd de Ancient World at John Cabot University insyd Rome. Already at dat stage, Brandt choose to focus on contemporary art from Southern Africa, especially after attending lectures by William Kentridge at Temple University. De writing den photographic work of Santu Mofokeng san get a deep impact on ein.

Brandt complete a MSt insyd History of Art den Visual Culture at de Department of History of Art den St Catherine’s College at Oxford University insyd 2008. Insyd 2015, she receive ein DPhil insyd Fine Art from de Ruskin School of Art den Christ Church at Oxford plus de dissertation  Emerging Landscapes: Memory, Trauma den its Afterimage insyd Post-Apartheid Namibia den South Africa. She currently lives den works between Namibia den Germany.
 Work 
Brandt be one of de first of ein generation of Namibian artists hu dey use a cross-disciplinary approach to critique de memory culture of German colonialism den how it be situate insyd place. Insyd ein work she considers how, through photography, video, den performance, memory, den memory situate insyd place, fi be explore den question.

Ein work feature insyd intergovernmental talks between Namibia den Germany. Insyd ein first project as a young artist, Brandt document de removal of de Reiterdenkmal, an equestrian statue dat stand on an imposing plinth insyd Windhoek, de capital of Namibia, insyd honour of German colonial rule. De memorial be first remove from its central location insyd 2009 den finally place insyd de inner courtyard of de Alte Feste insyd 2013.

Brandt’s exhibition The Earth Inside (2014) at de National Art Gallery of Namibia combine performance, video, photography, den installation. De work examine den critique traditional Eurocentric ideas of landscape, especially insyd relationship to de colonial war dem Genocide (1904–1908) den investigate how de past continues to insert itself into de present insyd various guises. Insyd ein video work Indifference (2014), German historical memory ein de romantic tradition dat sustains it dey interrogate. De multiscreen video dey show insyd a fringe exhibition at de Venice Biennale insyd 2015 alongside de work of de German artist den Golden Lion Award winner Christoph Schlingensief. Brandt explores moments insyd de lives of two women through fragments of their live experiences. De stories dey accompany by large-scale triptychs of de  Namibian desert coastline den its hinterland, plus deceitfully beautiful derelict landscapes dat contain places of historical violence. De video foregrounds involuntary memory den de way dat unresolve trauma breaks out insyd everyday engagements.  Insyd a body of work wry dey create insyd 2022 den 2023 plus de artists Gift Uzera den Muningandu Hoveka, one of de artistic strategies be to highlight questions related to history den memory as a counterpoint to state-sanctioned memorialisation.  Insyd their performance during de removal of de monument to de German colonizer Curt von Francois, den insyd a subsequent exhibition, marginalized groups anaa individuals hu dey exclude anaa misrepresent insyd Namibia’s dominant historical narrative, be commemorate.   As a feminist den queer ally, Brandt sees these counter-memorials den forms of collaboration as meaningful gestures towards present den  place-making den cultural regeneration. By creating counter-memorials, artists den activists aim to provide a space for critical reflection den dialogue about de past den its impact on de present.
 Oda work den publications 
Brandt be de author of de monograph Landscapes between Then den Now: Recent Histories insyd Southern African  Photography, Video den Performance Art wey dey publish by Bloomsbury insyd 2020. She dey contribute to chaw publications including The Journey: New Positions in African Photography (2020), co-edit by Simon Njami den Sean O’Toole. Brandt be de founder den series editor of Conversations Across Place (CAP), wich provides a research den publishing platform for artists den writers engaging plus landscape insyd its broader sense. De first CAP volume Reckoning with an Entangled World (2021) be publish by Greenbox Publishing insyd Berlin.
 Selected Collections 

 Scheryn Art Collection
 Iwalewahaus Collection, Bayreuth, Germany
 National Art Gallery, Namibia
 Embassy of Namibia, Berlin, Germany
 Würth Collection, Germany
 Ministry of Lands and Resettlement, Windhoek, Namibia
 Publications 

 Nicola Brandt (2020). Landscapes between Then and Now: Recent Histories in Southern African Photography, Video and Performance Art. Bloomsbury. 
 Nicola Brandt. Time, Performance and Landscape in Simon Njami, Sean O’Toole (eds.) (2020), The Journey: New Positions in African Photography. Kerber. 
 Nicola Brandt, Frances Whorrall-Campbell (eds.) (2021). Conversations Across Place Volume 1: Reckoning with An Entangled World. The Green Box. .
 Awards den scholarships 

 2010–2014 Christ Church, University of Oxford, Hugh Pilkington Scholarship
 2014 Namibian Film and Theatre Awards: Indifference, Special Mention of the Jury
 2016 IFA (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)
 2016 Wellcome Trust: Participant in Seed Award in Humanities and Social Science
 2017 Leverhulme Trust (shortlisted), Oxford Humanities Division and Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford, Diversifying Portraiture, Vice-Chancellor’s Diversity Fund, University of Oxford
 2017–2018 Gerda Henkel Foundation Fellowship
 2019: Best Exhibition: The Artists Association, Oslo
 2020–2021: Kowitz Foundation Grant to produce Conversations Across Place (CaP)

 References