One hundred years after the Rehoboth Basters rose up against their German colonizers, the photo series “Basterland“ takes up the task of providing a multifaceted insight into the contemporary life of the ethnic group living in Namibia today. A heterogenous spectrum of images arises in condensed pictures, revealing the tension-laden contradictions inherent to a typical phenomenon of our day and age—the confrontation between the processes of global standardization, and traditional regional structures that have been upheld over generations and defended against such external, antagonistic forces.
It is a portrait of a society that seems to find itself in an “in-between“ amid tradition and change and also the reinterpretation of seemingly stable concepts of “origin” or “home“—terms that have their own particular relevance in connection to the Baster’s unique history.
The virtually constitutive meaning of this history, which has been fought for time and time again, is the central theme of this work: The past lights up in the present, but precisely this past was meant to constantly be protected from the present. Last but not least the merit of this photo series lies in reminding us of a forgotten episode of German colonial history.
