ZEITZ MOCAA × GUCCI - WHEN WE SEE US via 360 MAGAZINE.

ZEITZ MOCAA × GUCCI – WHEN WE SEE US

ZEITZ MOCAA ANNOUNCES FULL ARTIST LINE-UP FOR HIGHLY ANTICIPATED EXHIBITION

WHEN WE SEE US: A CENTURY OF BLACK FIGURATION IN PAINTING 

The survey exhibition features nearly 200 artworks from 154 artists 

The exhibition, supported by Gucci, opens on 20 November 2022

This weekend, Zeitz MOCAA will be a flurry of activity as it not only presents its fundraising Gala, sponsored by Gucci, but also unveils a new survey exhibition that has been years in the making. Titled When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting, the exhibition places a focus on painting, specifically works produced from the 1920s to the present.

“Over the last decade, figurative painting by Black artists has risen to a new prominence in contemporary art,” says Koyo Kouoh, Executive Director and Chief Curator at Zeitz MOCAA. “There is no better time for an exhibition of this nature, one that connects these practices and reveals the deeper historic contexts and networks of complex and underrepresented artistic genealogies that stem from African and Black modernities; an exhibition that demonstrates how multiple generations of such artists have revelled and critically engaged in projecting various notions of Blackness and Africanity.”

When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting comprises an exhibition, publication and discursive programming that explores Black self-representation and celebrates global Black subjectivities and Black consciousness from pan-African and pan-diasporic perspectives. It boldly brings together artworks from the last 100 years, by Black artists working globally, into dialogue with leading Black thinkers, writers and poets who are active today.

The exhibition furthermore celebrates how artists from Africa and its diaspora have imagined, positioned, memorialised and asserted African and African-descent experiences. It contributes to critical discourse on African and Black liberation, intellectual and philosophical movements. The title of the exhibition is inspired by Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us, a 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 Professor Achille Mbembe

The exhibition, designed by Wolff Architects, features nearly 200 works of art by 154 artists from 28 countries, with the artworks loaned from 73 institutional and private lenders located in 26 countries. When We See Us celebrates the resilience, essence and political charge of Black joy. The exhibition is organised around six themes — The Everyday, Joy and Revelry, Repose, Sensuality, Spirituality, and Triumph and Emancipation. It is furthermore accompanied by a sonic translation, compiled by South African composer and sound artist Neo Muyanga.

Tandazani Dhlakama, the exhibition’s co-curator and Assistant Curator at Zeitz MOCAA, says: “This exhibition is a true reflection of the historic contexts of African and Black existence, with the oldest artist in the exhibition born in 1886 and the youngest in 1999. It amplifies a historical continuum of self-representation while highlighting important contributions towards a previously understated canon. Most importantly, it explores a broad range of artistic lineages, art schools and movements — and brings together a myriad of artists and their practice in dialogue for the first time (see full list of artists below).”

Published to coincide with the exhibition is a hardcover poetic catalogue by Thames and Hudson, in collaboration with Zeitz MOCAA, and edited by Koyo Kouoh. Richly illustrated with all the works selected for the exhibition, it includes a contextual essay by Dhlakama and four specially commissioned texts by acclaimed female writers Ken Bugul (Senegal), Maaza Mengiste (Ethiopia), Robin Coste Lewis (United States) and Bill Kouelany (Republic of Congo). In addition to the publication, on sale from 18 November at Zeitz MOCAA Shop and shop.zeitzmocaa.museum, the curatorial team have collaborated with the museum’s retail partner on a limited range of exhibition-related items, including T-shirts, tote bags and more.

Conceived in collaboration with the Institute for Humanities in Africa (HUMA) at the University of Cape Town (UCT), a parallel discursive programme provides theoretical framings of the project and is presented as a year-long, multi-vocal webinar series. The series brings together thought leaders from the continent and its thriving diaspora to address topics around global Black subjectivity and Black representation from the premise of artistic production and into the topical considerations relevant today.

Coordinated by Zeitz MOCAA Assistant Curator Thato Mogotsi, previous discussion topics included The Poetics of Black Figuration, Defining the ‘We’ & the ‘Us’, A Century of Black Figuration as Representation of Self and Black is Beautiful: Pan-Africanism & the Afropolitan Impulse in Contemporary Art, amongst others. Previous participants have included Prof Huey Copeland, Kimberly Drew, Keyna Eleison, Thelma Golden, Dr Felwine Sarr and Athi Mongozeleli Joja. The webinars are archived on the museum’s YouTube channel, with the next one taking place on Tuesday, 29 November. 

The opening of the exhibition is preceded by the 2022 Zeitz MOCAA Gala Dinner + Party, supported by Gucci, acting as a catalyst and inspiration for the Gala’s theme of Art & Opulence. The Gala is Zeitz MOCAA’s largest development event of the year and its proceeds yield approximately 30% of the museum’s annual exhibitions and education budget. The event is essential to the institution’s mission of promoting art education and community engagement, and is further supported by the V&A Waterfront, Radisson Hotel Group, the Mail & Guardian, YourLuxury Africa, Terre Paisable, Pernod Ricard and Hidden Valley Wines, with BMW South Africa as the official vehicle partner. 

The exhibition and accompanying publication have been made possible through the generous support of our presenting sponsor, Gucci.

When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting will open to the public on Sunday, 20 November 2022. The Zeitz MOCAA Gala Dinner + Party, supported by Gucci and themed Art + Opulence, takes place on Saturday, 19 November 2022. For more information on the Gala and to purchase tickets, visit zeitzmocaa.museum or click here.

Zeitz MOCAA’s curatorial and exhibition programming is proudly supported by Gucci. All proceeds from the annual fundraising event go towards supporting curatorial research and education programming at Zeitz MOCAA.

Participating artists: 

Nina Chanel Abney

Olusegun Adejumo

Tunji Adeniyi-Jones 

Njideka Akunyili Crosby

Maxwell Alexandre

Tiffany Alfonseca

Benny Andrews

Anjel (BorisAnje) 

Cornelius Annor

Gideon Appah

Michael Armitage

Johnny Arts

Malang Badji

Firelei Báez

Romare Bearden

Tizta Berhanu

Willie Bester

Gerard Bhengu

Wilson Bigaud

John Thomas Biggers 

Amoako Boafo

Kwesi Botchway

Marcus Brutus

Margaret Taylor Burroughs 

Dominic Chambers

Chéri Chérin

Kudzanai Chiurai

Peter Clarke

Eldzier Cortor

Somaya Critchlow

Beauford Delaney

Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux

Aboubacar Diané

Aaron Douglas

Gervais Emmanuel Ducasse

Edouard Duval-Carrié

Ibrahim El-Salahi

Ben Enwonwu

Esiri Erheriene-Essi

Patrick Eugène

Scherezade García

Ablade Glover

Gherdai Hassell

Barkley L. Hendricks

Lubaina Himid

Albert Huie

Clementine Hunter

Kudzanai-Violet Hwami

Gavin Jantjes

William H. Johnson

Charles Kamangwana

Kangudia

Ibrahima Kébé

Amon Kotei

Joy Labinjo

Wifredo Lam

YoYo Lander

Akinola Lasekan

Jacob Lawrence

Petson Lombe

Sahara Longe

Zemba Luzamba

Danielle McKinney

Mustafa Maluka

Marvelous Mangena

Armando Mariño

Arjan Martins

No Martins

Wangari Mathenge

Neo Matloga

Raphael Adjetey Adjei Mayne

George Mbugua

Kivuthi Mbuno

Zachariah Mbutha

Luis Meque

Roméo Mivekannin

Sungi Mlengeya

Sphephelo Mnguni

Moké

Meleko Mokgosi

Archibald J. Motley Jr. 

Richard Mudariki

Geoffrey Mukasa

Cinthia Sifa Mulanga 

Theresa Mungure

Lavar Munroe

Ian Mwesiga

Cassi Namoda

Eric Ndlovu

Chemu Ng’ok

Malangatana Valente Ngwenya

Nicholous Njau 

Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi

Eria Nsubuga ‘Sane’

Nestor Vuza Ntoko

Boris Nzebo

Antonio Obá

Antoine Obin 

Philomé Obin

Télémaque Obin

Abe Odedina

Toyin Ojih Odutola

Fred Oduya

Chris Ofili

Augustin Okoye 

Kambui Olujimi

Eniwaye Oluwaseyi

Bruce Onobrakpeya

Richard Onyango

Marc Padeu

Zéh Palito

Emma Pap’

Karl Parboosingh

George Pemba

Thebe Phetogo

Naudline Pierre

Prosper Pierre-Louis

Horace Pippin

María Magdalena Campos Pons

Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe

Robert Saidi

Chéri Samba

Kingsley Sambo

Cinga Samson

Mmapula Mmakgabo Helen Sebidi 

Gerard Sekoto

Tschabalala Self

Amy Sherald

Devan Shimoyama

Monsengo Shula

Alexander Shyngle

Sthembiso Sibisi

Ancent Soi

Olivier Souffrant

Moustapha Souley

Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum

Nirit  Takele

Matundu Tanda 

Henry Taylor

Alfred Thoba

Mickalene Thomas

Bob Thompson

Edward Saidi Tingatinga

Katlego Tlabela

Cyprien Tokoudagba

Mose Tolliver

Zandile Tshabalala

Didier Viodé

Sane Wadu

Charles White

Kehinde Wiley

Richard Witikani

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye

Daniela Yohannes

Issued by Chimera Creative on behalf of Zeitz MOCAA. 

Please find further media materials for When We See Us here and here.

About Zeitz MOCAA

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) is a public not-for-profit institution that collects, preserves, researches and exhibits contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora; conceives and hosts international exhibitions; develops supporting educational, discursive and enrichment programmes; encourages intercultural understanding; and strives towards access for all. The museum’s galleries feature rotating temporary exhibitions with a dedicated space for the permanent collection. The institution also includes the Centre for Art Education, the Centre for the Moving Image and The Atelier, a museum residency programme for artists living and working in Cape Town. 

Zeitz MOCAA is situated at the Silo District, South Arm Road, V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa, and is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm. zeitzmocaa.museum

About Gucci

Founded in Florence, Italy, in 1921, Gucci is one of the world’s leading luxury brands, led by President and CEO Marco Bizzarri and Creative Director Alessandro Michele. Following the House’s centenary, Gucci forges ahead into the next hundred years, continuing to redefine luxury while celebrating the creativity, craftsmanship and innovation at the core of its values. 

Gucci is part of the global luxury group, Kering, which manages the development of a series of renowned Houses in fashion, leather goods, jewelry and watches. 

Discover more about Gucci at gucci.com