Artists

Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Michael Armitage, Gavin Jantjes, Wifredo Lam, Danielle Mckinney, Chris Ofili, Dominic Chambers, Kehinde Wiley, Tschabalala Self, Romare Bearden, Ben Enwonwu, Joy Labinjo, Jacob Lawrence, Sungi Mlengeya, Chéri Samba, Amy Sherald, Cyprien Tokoudagba, Zandile Tshabalala, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Chemu Ng’ok, Cassi Namoda, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, Nina Chanel Abney, Olusegun Adejumo, Maxwell Alexandre, Tiffany Alfonseca, Benny Andrews, Cornelius Annor, Gideon Appah, Malang Badji, Firelei Báez, Gerard Bhengu, Wilson Bigaud, Amoako Boafo, Margaret Taylor Burroughs, Chéri Chérin, Kudzanai Chiurai, Beauford Delaney, Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux, Aboubacar Diané, Aaron Douglas, Gervais-Emmanuel Ducasse, Edouard Duval-Carrié, Ibrahim El-Salahi, Esiri Erheriene-Essi, Scherezade García, Ablade Glover, Gherdai Hassell, Barkley L. Hendricks, Clementine Hunter, William H. Johnson, Kangudia, Ibrahima Kébé, YoYo Lander, Akinola Lasekan, Petson Lombe, Sahara Longe, Mustafa Maluka, Marvelous Mangena, Arjan Martins, Wangari Mathenge, Luis Meque, Roméo Mivekannin, Moké, Meleko Mokgosi, Richard Mudariki, Geoffrey Mukasa, Cinthia Sifa Mulanga, Lavar Munroe, Ian Mwesiga, Eric Ndlovu, Malangatana Ngwenya, Nicholas Njau, Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, Eria Nsubuga ‘Sane’, Nestor Vuza Ntoko, Boris Nzebo, Antoine Obin, Télémaque Obin, Augustin Okoye, Kambui Olujimi, Eniwaye Oluwaseyi, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Richard Onyango, Marc Padeu, Zéh Palito, Emma Pap’, George Pemba, Naudline Pierre, Prosper Pierre-Louis, Horace Pippin, María Magdalena Campos Pons, Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Kingsley Sambo, Cinga Samson, Mmapula Mmakgoba Helen Sebidi, Gerard Sekoto, Devan Shimoyama, Monsengo Shula, Alex Shyngle, Sthembiso Sibisi, Ancent Soi, Olivier Souffrant, Moustapha Souley, Nirit Takele, Matundu Tanda, Henry Taylor, Mickalene Thomas, Bob Thompson, Edward Saidi Tingatinga, Katlego Tlabela, Sane Wadu, Charles White, Richard Witikani

Press release

A Century of Black Figuration in Painting

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.  

This exhibition is conceived and organised by Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) In Cape Town​​​​​​​.​​​​​​​

When We See Us is presented at Bozar ​​​​​​​under the Patronage of Her Majesty the Queen.