Meeting with Eljakim “Baby” Doeseb in Windhoek

During a private trip to Namibia in June 2026, Antonia Fendt and Jan Knipping got in touch with the Namibian musician, composer, author, archivist, and music researcher Eljakim “Baby” Doeseb. Baby Doeseb, who has served as lead guitarist for Namibia’s oldest active band (“The Ugly Creatures”) since the 1970s, is already connected to Hauke Dorsch and the AMA through previous projects. As part of a fellowship funded by the Ernst Wilhelm Müller Foundation in 2025, he participated as a guest in a KOSTIMA workshop and is one of the co-founders of the project “Stolen Moments: Namibian Music History Untold,” the results of which were showcased in a traveling exhibition curated by him in Switzerland, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Namibia. While in Windhoek, he therefore took the opportunity to personally guide the two KOSTIMA staff members through the exhibition—which is now accessible only by appointment—as well as through the archives of the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), where he himself had worked for many years. He further enriched these tours with numerous fascinating anecdotes from his long and eventful career. In addition, in-depth discussions were held regarding a Namibian exhibit as a contribution to the planned exhibition of the KOSTIMA project at the Weltkulturen Museum in Frankfurt, which is currently in the works.