Dialogue / Media Reports

Namibian Artefacts Speakin ‘People of Song’ – Namibian 25-10-2025

“Namibian Artefacts Speakin ‘People of Song’

By Martha Mukaiwa

25 October 2025

[…]

This long-buried trauma is at the heart of the Namibian and German co-production which had its world premiere at the National Theatre of Namibia in Windhoek last week.

Opened by Kai Wegner, the governing mayor of Berlin, during his visit to commemorate 25 years of partnership between the Namibian and German capitals, ‘People of Song’ is a remarkable example of this constructive cooperation following Germany’s colonial rule of Namibia (1884 to 1915).

The collaborative musical brings together German and Namibian music and theatre talent to tell a story of family, German colonial legacy and lingering trauma while highlighting the importance of ongoing acknowledgement and meaningful restitution.

Starring /Uiras as Ouma (grandmother), Natasha Kitavi as Aniros and Eslon Hindundu as her father, Tsaudago, ‘People of Song’ introduces a young Namibian girl who loves the songs and traditions of her homeland but wants to share her own music with the world.

As life ticks on in Aniros’ multicultural Namibian community, a German man named Hermann, played by David Wehr, discovers an artefact left to him by his once globe-trotting, estranged but now deceased father.

OPENING WOUNDS

Compelled to learn more about the object, Hermann travels to Aniros’ community, where the past shatters the present and opens tightly stitched wounds.

Directed by Jason Kooper and Kim Meyer and featuring a treasure trove of original Namibian and German compositions, influenced by the countries’ folk songs, lullabies, popular and traditional music, ‘People of Song’ is an inspiring addition to Namibia’s musical canon.

[…]

Cinematic in its score with music performed by the Jugendsinfonieorchester Bremen, the Namibia National Symphony Orchestra and the Youth Orchestras of Namibia, ‘People of Song’ also features a wealth of Namibian composers such as David Haoseb, Engelhardt #Unaeb, Erna Chimu, the Kufamosha Cultural Group, Michael Doeseb, Zikizee Hangero, Hindundu, Victor Ardelean, !Owoseb and Heise.

[…]

Through /Uiras’ Ouma, ‘People of Song’ tells its story of colonial violence, long-held silence and intergenerational trauma, while Wehr’s Hermann represents a generation of descendants left to grapple with the legacy of their forefathers.

In ‘People of Song’, Namibian artefacts speak.

They haunt the children of those who stole them, and they lead them back to the scenes of unspoken crimes. Indigenous artefacts are witnesses and triggers, even when the peoples they belong to may have forgotten their cultural significance.

“I am not a jackal!” says Hermann, drawing on a story and a metaphor that thread their way through the production. He isn’t. But those who know, may feel unsettled by Hermann’s declaration of finally “feeling at home” now that he’s in Namibia.

“I know you’re not your father,” says Aniros, trying to soothe some of Hermann’s horror. “But you need to acknowledge what happened. Only then can we move forward.”

[…]

“I don’t think I can talk right now,” Ouma tells Aniros, still contending with the past.

“But maybe you can sing.””