AFA goes to: When we see us

How have artists from Africa and its vast diaspora depicted daily life over the past century? Koyo Kouoh, Executive Director and Chief Curator of Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town, and her team have sought to answer this question with a landmark exhibition. Bozar proudly presents this vast kaleidoscope of Black figurative painting from the 1920s to the present day.  Inspired by Ava DuVernay’s series When They See Us, the exhibition title “When We See Us” reflects a fundamental perspective exploring Black self-representation and global Black subjectivities. The approximately 150 works by around 120 artists are grouped into six themes: “The Everyday”, “Joy & Revelry”, “Repose”, “Sensuality”, “Spirituality”, and “Triumph and Emancipation”.  By focusing on these themes, the exhibition offers a rich, nuanced view of Black life and thought, emphasising the resilience, essence, and political charge of Black joy. It highlights relationships between artists and artworks across geographic, generational, and conceptual contexts, fostering a deeper understanding of a complex and underrepresented genealogy rooted in African and Black modernities. When We See Us encourages discussion on Black liberation and intellectual movements and celebrates experiences from Africa and the African diaspora contributing to the art historical canon. 

As part of the When We See Us exhibition, Bozar invites you to the Sofa Sessions, a series of intimate, intergenerational discussions that bring together international artists and emerging local talent on a sofa. These six sessions offer a privileged tour of the exhibition, followed by critical and open debate. The aim? To explore the six main themes of the exhibition — The Everyday, Joy and Revelry, Repose, Sensuality, Spirituality, and Triumph and Emancipation — by crossing the perspectives of young generations and multiple voices. This nomadic “sofa” aims to create a comfortable and dynamic space for exchange.