The 2025/2026 Bank Windhoek Triennial Exhibition officially opened at the National Art Gallery of Namibia in Windhoek on Tuesday, 18 August 2026, marking the return of one of the country’s most important platforms for contemporary visual art, national reflection and creative excellence.
Hosted by the National Art Gallery of Namibia in partnership with Bank Windhoek, the Triennial, Namibia’s largest visual arts competition and exhibition, returned under the theme Namibian Identity: The Linework of a Country’s Contours and Wealth, drawing 277 submissions from artists across the country and reaffirming the strength, range and relevance of Namibia’s visual arts sector.
Josef Madisia was named the overall winner of the 2025/2026 Bank Windhoek Triennial, while Loide Ashipala received second prize and the Emerging Artist Award. Gideon Magameno Kashile was awarded third prize, and Nambowa Malua received the Judges’ Special Mention Award. Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to Dörte Berner, Josef Madisia and Nicky Marais in recognition of their contribution to Namibia’s artistic landscape.
The first-prize winner receives N$50,000 and a solo exhibition, while the second and third-prize winners receive N$35,000 and N$25,000, respectively.
Bank Windhoek Head of Strategic Communication and Social Impact, Bronwyn Moody, said the Bank’s support for the Triennial reflects its longstanding commitment to developing Namibia’s creative sector and creating platforms that recognise local talent.
“For Bank Windhoek, supporting the Triennial is both a cultural commitment and a developmental one. A successful nation must invest not only in infrastructure and commerce, but also in imagination, creativity and the preservation of its identity,” Moody said. She added that since its inception in 2008, the Triennial has strengthened the visibility of Namibian artists, encouraged excellence and contributed to the growth of the country’s visual arts landscape.
Delivering the keynote address on behalf of Sanet Steenkamp, Minister of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture, Deputy Executive Director Edda Bohn described the Triennial as more than a showcase of artistic talent. She said national art competitions allow the
country to assess the depth, health, and vibrancy of its art landscape, which is shaped by the broader social fabric and political economy that influence artmaking. “Identity is never a fixed thing. It travels across time, culture, language, politics, material and ideology. It is not merely something we think — it is something we remember, together, and it is still being written,” she said.
Bohn noted that a close reading of the submitted works suggests that Namibian identity remains evolving, negotiated and not yet fully realised. While many entries drew on familiar national symbols such as the flag, the desert, the oryx, Christuskirche and the liberation struggle, she said the exhibition also reveals the silences around the in-between identities that many Namibians continue to live and negotiate.
She described the exhibition as a form of visual catharsis that both celebrates and questions the nation, asking difficult questions about belonging, marginalisation, wealth, access and who benefits from the country’s natural and cultural resources. Some artworks, she added, acknowledge Namibia’s natural wealth as a testament to national resilience, while others reflect on how wealth creation leaves marks on the environment and on social class.
Bohn said the return of the Triennial comes at an important moment in Namibia’s cultural history, following the adoption of the new Arts, Culture and Heritage Policy. The policy, she said, creates space for sustained investment in art education, residencies, sponsorship and the integration of art, culture and heritage across national life. However, she emphasised that policy alone is not enough.
“A policy is only an invitation. It is not, on its own, sufficient. It falls to artists, to institutions, to the National Art Gallery, and to partners like Bank Windhoek, to fill that void with new work, new spaces and new energy,” Bohn said.
The public is invited to view the artworks free of charge at the National Art Gallery of Namibia.
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