20 Jul 2024
This time they are not lying in the sand and do not have to be extracted by laborious digging and sieving. This time they are on walls and in display cases. Visitors can view them in comfort and, in some cases, purchase them.
We are talking about diamonds, both figuratively and literally, which can now be found in the abandoned diamond settlement of Kolmanskop. To be more precise: in the renovated premises of the original soda factory and the former casino.
Diamonds in the figurative sense are large-format prints of photographs by professional photographers. The ILFORD Galerie Kolmanskop opened in four rooms in the historic building of the soda factory at the beginning of July.
The first exhibition includes impressive photographic motifs of Kolmanskop as well as landscapes and animals of Namibia. One room is dedicated to black and white photographs. The photographs are by renowned photographers: Jandre Germishuizen from Namibia, Wim van den Heever from South Africa and Michael Poliza and Alexander Heinrichs from Germany.
The top quality of the prints is guaranteed by the film and photo paper manufacturer ILFORD with its art print brand 'ILFORD Galerie'. There were previously only two ILFORD Galerien in the world, in Malaysia and Thailand. The ILFORD Galerie Kolmanskop is now the third in this select group. The CEO of ILFORD Europe, Karsten Goltz, travelled here especially for the opening.
The initiator of the gallery is the top German photographer and ILFORD 'ambassador' Alexander Heinrichs, who now lives in Walvis Bay. His partners are Pieter Pretorius (Mola Mola Safaris in Walvis Bay) and Cicely Burgess (Ghost Town Tours in Lüderitz).
In addition to the photographic diamonds, real diamonds can also be found in the former diamond settlement and current tourist attraction Kolmanskop. They can be admired - and bought - in the Kolmanskop Diamond Room in the building of the former Casino.
They are all authentic Namibian diamonds. Mined by the Namibian company Namdeb, traded by the Namibian agency Namdia and refined by the cutting company Dash Diamonds in Windhoek.
The authenticity is guaranteed by a GIA certificate. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) is the world's leading authority on diamonds and coloured gemstones.
Everything in the Kolmanskop Boutique next door to the ILFORD Galerie is also 100 per cent Namibian, whether clothing, leather goods or jewellery. The owner of the two shops, Cicely Burgess, was awarded the twelve-year concession for the Kolmanskop tourist attraction two years ago with her company Ghost Town Tours.
Burgess told Namibian.org that she hopes that more holidaymakers will come to Kolmanskop in future. There are currently around 30,000 visitors a year. This includes Namibians and holidaymakers from abroad. Cruise ships that dock in Lüderitz during the Namibian summer months from November to April also contribute to the numbers.
It was in Kolmanskop that the labourer Zacharias Lewala found the first diamond in 1908. The supervisor on the railway section in question, August Stauch, became fabulously rich as a result of the find. However, he lost almost his entire fortune during the economic crisis of 1929.
Around the same time, diamond mining at Kolmanskop ceased. Over the decades, the desert reclaimed the site. Wind and sand moved into the decaying houses.
Sven-Eric Stender
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