KEETMANSHOOP: A casual worker employed by the Keetmanshoop Municipality made a shocking discovery yesterday when he came across what is thought to be human bones while digging a new grave.

The worker had been digging a new grave on what was supposed to be as-yet-unused land when he came across bones and pieces of wood suspected to be parts of a coffin about one metre deep under the surface of the ground at the Keetmanshoop Cemetery.

The cemetery is located in front of the traffic department and fire brigade offices, next to the road going to the Tseiblaagte and Kronlein townships.

Some residents suspect that the piece of land which the cemetery is currently situated on was previously also used as a cemetery.

The Chief Technician at the Keetmanshoop Municipality, Jozua Dejay, however, told Nampa at the site that as far as he knows, the land was used as a car parking lot.

At least 20 artists from the Oshikoto, Omusati and Kunene Regions are attending a one-week workshop which aims to help them with the managing, marketing and pricing of their artwork here.

The workshop, which is being facilitated by National Art Gallery of Namibia (NAGN) staff, is a follow-up on a survey conducted by the NAGN in 2010 on the needs of artists here.

According to the Acting Director of the NAGN, Luness Mpunwa, the workshop that started on Monday, is aimed at empowering artists with the necessary skills which they indicated are needed in the 2010 survey.

The group of participants includes pottery, basketry, beadwork, wood-carving and wiring artists from all three regions.

After the workshop, some of the work produced by the artists which meets certain standards of the NAGN will be added to the products that are sold by the NAGN in Windhoek.