Image courtesy of Zeitz MOCAA’s Instagram
Currently on view at Zeitz MOCAA, “When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting” is an exhibition that explores Black self-representation through portraiture and figuration in painting. Curated by Koyo Kouoh and Tandazani Dhlakama, the exhibition is celebrating global Black subjectivities and Black consciousness from pan-African and pan-diasporic perspectives.
When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting is more than an exhibition. It is a publication and a dialogue exploring self-representation and black consciousness while celebrating Black subjectivity and Black consciousness from Pan-African and Pan-Diasporic perspectives.
As a publication, When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting highlights the ways artists critically engage with notions of blackness, contributing to the critical discourse on topics such as Pan-Africanism, the Civil Rights Movement, African Liberation and Independence movements, the Anti-Apartheid and Black Consciousness mobilizations, Decoloniality, and Black Lives Matter. This publication is to accompany the exhibition happening at Zeitz MOCAA and devoted to Black figuration in painting from the 1920s to now. With over 200 works of art from the last 100 years and writings from active leading Black thinkers, writers and poets such as Ken Bugul (Senegal), Maaza Mengiste (Ethiopia), Robin Coste Lewis (United States) and Bill Kouelany (Republic of Congo), amongst others. When We See Us is a major contribution to our understanding of Black art in modern and contemporary figurative art and Black cultural history.
As an exhibition, When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting celebrates how artists of African descent have imagined, positioned, memorialized, and asserted African and African diasporic experiences from the early 20th century to the present day. Featuring artists from Africa and the African diaspora, the exhibition which is set on dialoguing the artists’ works and practice for the first time, includes Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Zandile Tshabalala, Jacob Lawrence, Chéri Samba, Danielle McKinney, Archibald Motley, Ben Enwonwu, Kingsley Sambo, Sungi Mlengeya, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Cyprien Tokoudagba, Amy Sherald, Mmapula Mmakgabo, Helen Sebidi, Joy Labinjo, and a host of others. The exhibition is accompanied by a Sonic Translation that is compiled by South African composer and sound artist Neo Muyanga.
As a dialogue, the title of the exhibition is inspired by Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us, the 2019 miniseries. Flipping ‘they’ to ‘we’ allows for a dialectical shift that centres the conversation in a differential perspective of self-writing as theorised by Cameroonian political scientist Professor Achille Mbembe. In collaboration with the Institute for Humanities in Africa (HUMA) at the University of Cape Town (UCT), There has been a series of discussions from thought leaders from the continent and the diaspora which has been archived on the Zeitz MOCAA’s YouTube channel.
Image courtesy of Zeitz MOCAA’s Instagram
The exhibition – and accompanying publication – is sponsored by Gucci.
It will be open from 20 November 2022 to 3 September 2023. Exhibition days are Tuesdays to Sundays.
