Namibia Places
Linus Malherbe
ISBN 97899919954333
Self-published, November 2020
PREFACE
Namibia Places is an artist’s travel journal that portrays journeys, especially down memory lane, through a country renowned for its unique beauty. It features several of Namibia’s most famous and iconic landmarks, supported by observations, stories and anecdotes that are mementos from my youth, and short in-depth ventures into historical research. It also contains artwork commissioned or bought by collectors, who’s names are referenced throughout.
I have always believed that artists – whether they are painters, sculptors, writers or musicians – are born with a sixth sense and a natural ability to assimilate and store detail. While this sets them apart from non-artists, it also carries an emotional burden of extreme highs and intense lows, and a mindset that brooks no placidity.
The book further contains my theory pertaining to the White Lady of the Brandberg, an avocation that debunks existing hypotheses relating to this famous Namibian feature. The legendary rock painting is a topic of great interest among Namibians, ex-Namibians, tourists and rock-art connoisseurs worldwide. Current theories are being challenged by new suppositions of how the White Lady group might have had Viking ties, with reference to the thoroughbred wild desert horses of Prussia and the medieval swords of the White Lady designated as “Bushman rock art”. Whatever the origin of this captivating relic of the past might be, it might well remain in perpetui simply as a memento of lost footprints.
