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.鈥
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鈥痑rtists are grouped into six themes: "The Everyday鈥, "Joy & Revelry鈥, "Repose鈥, "Sensuality鈥, "Spirituality鈥, and "Triumph and Emancipation鈥.鈥
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.鈥
This exhibition is conceived and organised by Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) In Cape Town鈥嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧.鈥嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧
When We See Us is presented at Bozar 鈥嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧媢nder the Patronage of Her Majesty the Queen.
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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.鈥
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鈥痑rtists are grouped into six themes: "The Everyday鈥, "Joy & Revelry鈥, "Repose鈥, "Sensuality鈥, "Spirituality鈥, and "Triumph and Emancipation鈥.鈥
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.鈥
This exhibition is conceived and organised by Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) In Cape Town鈥嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧.鈥嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧
When We See Us is presented at Bozar 鈥嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧媢nder the Patronage of Her Majesty the Queen.
Artists on show
- Aaron Douglas
- Ablade Glover
- Aboubacar Diané
- Akinola Lasekan
- Alex Shyngle
- Amoako Boafo
- Amy Sherald
- Ancent Soi
- Antoine Obin
- Arjan Martins
- Augustine Chigbata Okoye
- Barkley Hendricks
- Beauford Delaney
- Ben Enwonwu
- Benny Andrews
- Bob Thompson
- Boris Nzebo
- Bruce Onobrakpeya
- Cassi Namoda
- Chemu Ng鈥檕k
- Chéri Che虂rin
- Chéri Samba
- Chris Ofili
- Cinga Samson
- Cinthia Mulanga
- Clementine Hunter
- Cornelius Annor
- Cyprien Tokoudagba
- Danielle McKinney
- Devan Shimoyama
- Dominic Chambers
- Edouard Duval-Carrié
- Eduardo Saidi Tingatinga
- Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux
- Emil Pap
- Eniwaye Oluwaseyi
- Eria Nsubuga
- Eric Ndlovu
- Esiri Erheriene-Essi
- Firelei Báez
- Gavin Jantjes
- Geoffrey Mukasa
- George Pemba
- Gerard Bhengu
- Gerard Sekoto
- Gervais Emmanuel Ducasse
- Gherdai Hassell
- Gideon Appah
- Helen Mmakgabo Mmapula Sebidi
- Horace Pippin
- Ian Mwesiga
- Ibrahim El Salahi
- Ibrahima Kebe
- Jacob Lawrence
- Johnny Arts
- Joy Labinjo
- Kambui Olujimi
- Kangudia
- Katlego Tlabela
- Kehinde Wiley
- Kingsley Sambo
- Koyo Kouoh
- Kudzanai Chiurai
- Kudzanai-Violet Hwami
- Lavar Munroe
- Luis Mequé
- Lynette Yiadom-Boakye
- Malang Badji
- Malangatana
- Marc Padeu
- Margaret Taylor-Burroughs
- María Magdalena Campos-Pons
- Marvelous Mangena
- Matundu Tanda
- Maxwell Alexandre
- Meleko Mokgosi
- Michael Armitage
- Mickalene Thomas
- Moké
- Monsengo Shula
- Moustapha Souley
- Mustafa Maluka
- Naudline Pierre
- Neo Matloga
- Nestor Vuza Ntoko
- Nicholous Njau
- Nina Chanel Abney
- Nirit Takele
- Olivier Souffrant
- Otis Quaicoe
- Pamela Sunstrum
- Petson Lombe
- Prospere Pierre-Louis
- Richard Mudariki
- Richard Onyango
- Richard Witkani
- Romare Bearden
- Roméo Mivekannin
- Sahara Longe
- Sane Wadu
- Scherezade Garcia
- Segun Adejumo
- Sthembiso Sibisi
- Sungi Mlengeya
- Telemaque Obin
- Thenjiwe Nkosi
- Tiffany Alfonseca
- Toyin Odutola
- Tschabalala Self
- Tunji Adeniyi-Jones
- Wangari Mathenge
- Wifredo Lam
- William H. Johnson
- Wilson Bigaud
- YoYo Lander
- Zandile Tshabalala
- Zéh Palito
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The exhibition programme of 2025 starts with the powerful and colourful show When We See Us. This exhibition forms a vast kaleidoscope that reflects a century of Black figurative painting and presents over 150 works by 120 artists from Africa and the African diaspora.
Bozar (Centre for Fine Arts of Brussels) presents the exhibition When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting, a kaleidoscope of Black figurative painting from the past one hundred years, seen through the lens of joy.
Koyo Kouoh, who will curate the 2026 Venice Biennale, has assembled a huge survey at the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels presenting Black life on its own, frequently gorgeous, terms.
In 2025, Bozar, the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, becomes the meeting ground for two monumental exhibitions.
