As part of the ongoing Sister Cities in Action initiative, Windhoek recently hosted an insightful event focused on Memory in Public Spaces, bringing together creatives, community voices, historians, and city stakeholders to reflect on how our urban landscape tells — and sometimes fails to tell — our collective story.
What if our cities truly reflected who we are?
This question guided the discussion as participants explored how Windhoek can honour all its cultures, histories, and futures. The goal is not simply to replace what exists, but to complete what is missing, ensuring every Namibian can walk tall, knowing their identity and dignity are represented in the spaces around them.
Key reflections from the session included:
- Honest engagement with existing monuments, buildings, and symbols, and what they communicate about our past.
- Recognizing stories that have been erased, overlooked, or ignored, and the importance of restoring them to public memory.
- Empowering communities and creatives to tell histories with dignity through art, design, storytelling, and cultural expression.
- Imagining beyond the present, using creativity, public art, and film to inspire what Windhoek could become.
A clear message emerged: we need more open discourse and thoughtful debate around memory, representation, and identity in public space. To shape a future that reflects us all, we must define our values, establish guiding principles, and understand why we are building and transforming our city in the ways we choose.
This event marks another meaningful step in strengthening dialogue between Windhoek and Berlin and in building a cityscape that honours the past while inspiring a shared and inclusive future.
