One of the problematic areas is one of integrity and respect. In that regard it is necessary to draw from experiences that I have had in the Namibian art environment. With regard to 'graduates'it needs to be stated emphatically that no student studying at the University of Namibia, comes away with an art degree. Those who choose to include fine art subjects/disciplines in their degree courses merely have an ordinary B.A. degree, which is not a Fine Art degree. Unfortunately most of these graduates present themselves to prospective employers as Fine Art graduates, which they clearly are not. Any Namibian wishing to qualify themselves in Fine Art with an appropriate degree must, therefor, enrol at a university in South Africa or elsewhere. The problem is exacerbated if a graduate wishes to enter a Master's programme. There is no possibility of doing so at the University of Namibia. The questions and issues around this dilemma are well-known and the employment prospects for UNAM graduates are not made any easier as a consequence. For the auto-didacts (self-trained), the situation becomes more gloomy. There is just so far that the informal sector can go to assist individuals without formal training. There are exceptions to this, of course, but the marketplace in Namibia has already been saturated with the Mall artists selling their wares on the street, and at accommodating galleries. The tourism sector manages to inject some support, but for an ongoing reliable market to provide a decent income for 'informall-trained artists'requires a larger market, which the Namibian population of roughly 1,8 million people just cannot do. The art-buying public constitutes less than 0,1% of this small number, and the obvious outcome of these statistics is that marketing startegies which require the use of the internet and knowledge of marketing, is essential. This the young 'informally-trained artist' generally does not interact with. The marketplace is populated by very experienced artists and very young artists. The latter's works have rarely been subjected to critical scrutiny, and the result is a disasterous self-analysis about the quality of the work produced. A few fortunate sales to tourists is not an indicator about the quality of art. Most tourists tend to purchase affordable momentoes of their visits to Namibia, and rarely spend money on investment pieces. As a gallery-owner my experiences with the 'buying public' informs me about the trends, and it would be very unwise to ignore what statistics prove. The galleries in Namibia are in a very good position to provide factual information on exactly how the market functions. To ignore this is clearly unwise. One also needs to scrutinize the credentials of the individuals who claim to promote the interests of young artists and their art production. There are, of course, many more reasons why the development and progress of young Namibian artists towards a sustainable lifestyle is so slow, but this is not the forum for such a discussion. John Sampson