Thania Petersen places her own body and gaze at the centre of histories long written about her community. Her photographic self-portraits in I Am Royal (2015), made as a gift to her children, gained widespread attention when curator Ingrid Masondo recognised Petersen’s vision and included her work in the Iziko South African National Gallery collection. In this conversation, Petersen reflects on a practice that interrogates the labels of “Cape Malay” and “Coloured” while tracing a creolised sense of...
Thania Petersen places her own body and gaze at the centre of histories long written about her community. Her photographic self-portraits in I Am Royal...
Article created in partnership with the DOEN Foundation. Far from the bustle of downtown Bamako, tucked away in a quiet neighbourhood, lies the headquarters of the Anw Jigi Art association. At its helm Assitan Tangara, embodies a new generation of socially engaged artists - deeply rooted in their communities and guided since childhood by a passion for the stage. To reach the headquarters of Anw Jigi Art in Djalakorodji, a northern suburb on the outskirts of Bamako, I had to navigate chaotic, uneven...
Article created in partnership with the DOEN Foundation. Far from the bustle of downtown Bamako, tucked away in a quiet neighbourhood, lies the...
Article réalisé en partenariat avec la Fondation DOEN. Loin du tumulte du centre-ville, dans un quartier reculé de Bamako, se cache le siège de l’association Anw Jigi Art. À sa tête, Assitan Tangara, une comédienne-conteuse qui incarne une nouvelle génération d’artistes engagés, proches des communautés et portés dès l’enfance par la passion du théâtre. Pour me rendre au siège de l’association Anw Jigi Art situé à Djalakorodji, un quartier périphérique au nord de la capitale malienne de Bamako, j’ai...
Article réalisé en partenariat avec la Fondation DOEN. Loin du tumulte du centre-ville, dans un quartier reculé de Bamako, se cache le siège de...
Article réalisé en partenariat avec la Fondation DOEN. Lusanga est un village situé à environ 570 kilomètres de Kinshasa, dans la province du Kwilu en République Démocratique du Congo, avec une population d’environ 15 000 habitants. Son histoire reflète les ravages écologiques causés par l'exploitation coloniale. Comme une grande partie de l’ancienne province du Bandundu, au nord-est de Kinshasa en RDC, le village de Lusanga était autrefois entouré d'une forêt tropicale dense, où des arbres...
Article réalisé en partenariat avec la Fondation DOEN. Lusanga est un village situé à environ 570 kilomètres de Kinshasa, dans la province du Kwilu en...
Article created in partnership with the DOEN Foundation. Lusanga is a village about 570 kilometres from Kinshasa, in the Kwilu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, with a population of roughly 15,000. Its history reflects the ecological devastation brought about during the colonial era. Like much of the former Bandundu province, northeast of Kinshasa in the DRC, the village of Lusanga was once surrounded by dense tropical forests. Century-old trees and a rich biodiversity once sustained...
Article created in partnership with the DOEN Foundation. Lusanga is a village about 570 kilometres from Kinshasa, in the Kwilu Province of the Democratic...
Article réalisé en partenariat avec la Fondation DOEN. Il est tôt le matin dans la Commune 3 de Bamako, au Mali, et il y a de l’effervescence dans le quartier. Un groupe de jeunes s’affaire à préparer l’espace ouvert, qui sert quelques fois pour des événements. Pour éviter que la poussière ne s’élève, les jeunes filles arrosent soigneusement le sol, avant de balayer l’espace en vue de la cérémonie marquant le retour des Praticables , une biennale de théâtre qui était devenue, au fil des années, une...
Article réalisé en partenariat avec la Fondation DOEN. Il est tôt le matin dans la Commune 3 de Bamako, au Mali, et il y a de l’effervescence dans le...
Article created in partnership with the DOEN Foundation. It’s early in the morning in Commune 3 of Bamako, Mali, and there’s a buzz in the neighbourhood. A group of young people are busy preparing the open space, which is sometimes used for events. To prevent dust from rising, the young girls carefully sprinkle water on the ground before sweeping the area clean in preparation for the ceremony to mark the return of Les Praticables (The Platforms) , a biennial theatre event that had, over the years,...
Article created in partnership with the DOEN Foundation. It’s early in the morning in Commune 3 of Bamako, Mali, and there’s a buzz in the neighbourhood....
Neo Matloga’s new solo exhibition is about resilience – not the kind we shout about, but the quiet kind. The kind found in small rituals, in the decision to show up again. These are portraits of everyday courage. For his first exhibition in Johannesburg since 2020, Matloga presents a tableau of quiet figures witnessed in moments of daily life between Johannesburg and Mamaila, the village where he grew up. The artist describes his paintings as “psychological landscapes,” in which the range of...
Neo Matloga’s new solo exhibition is about resilience – not the kind we shout about, but the quiet kind. The kind found in small rituals, in the decision...
(For English, read below) Uitnodiging – Opening Between Here and Now ZAM Magazine en Open Art Exchange nodigen je van harte uit voor de opening van de tentoonstelling en de Glitching the Future livestream symposium. Between Here and Now 11 – 19 oktober 2025 bij Open Art Exchange Hoogstraat 85, Schiedam, Nederland Between Here and Now is een multidisciplinaire tentoonstelling van Afrikaanse kunstenaars binnen en buiten de Afrikaanse diaspora. Het “now” betreft de actuele ervaring van migratie en...
(For English, read below) Uitnodiging – Opening Between Here and Now ZAM Magazine en Open Art Exchange nodigen je van harte uit voor de opening van de...
‘Legacy’ is the theme of this year’s Afrovibes Festival in the Netherlands. In an era marked by war, famine, forced displacement, and climate change, what can still anchor our faith, stability, and trust? Have we truly learned from the turbulences of the past, and what legacy are we leaving for the generations to come? At the upcoming 232nd edition of the annual Afrovibes Festival, performances capture the intensity of the current zeitgeist as experienced from Africa. Once again, the festival...
‘Legacy’ is the theme of this year’s Afrovibes Festival in the Netherlands. In an era marked by war, famine, forced displacement, and climate change,...
Just days after being named the 2025 FNB Art Prize winner, Thato Toeba was already back in Amsterdam, where they are currently based, while I am based in Johannesburg, making our conversation a warm and playful call across continents. Born in 1990 in Maseru, Lesotho, Toeba is an artist, researcher, and lawyer whose work spans collage, photomontage, and mixed-media assemblage. Even online, Toeba’s humour and generosity shone through. when reflecting on the quiet evolution of their visual language,...
Just days after being named the 2025 FNB Art Prize winner, Thato Toeba was already back in Amsterdam, where they are currently based, while I am based in...
Camissa Create, a performance art company specialising in heritage and historical narratives, will present the story of South Africa’s First Peoples during Heritage Weekend at Artscape in Cape Town. The Camissa Heritage Tour retraces South Africa’s colonial history and its enduring ties with the Netherlands. It tells the story of the country’s First Peoples—the Indigenous San and Khoi communities—who lived on this land for millennia. These communities resisted the settlers’ incursions and refused...
Camissa Create, a performance art company specialising in heritage and historical narratives, will present the story of South Africa’s First Peoples...
The New York mayoral candidate was once a singer in a Ugandan band. Imagine this: A Muslim. Thirty-three years old. Born in Uganda, raised in South Africa and the United States. The son of a renowned scientist and an Oscar-winning mother. A graduate in African Studies. An advocate for social justice. An ally of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination. A supporter of equal rights for LGBTIQ+ communities. A champion of solidarity with migrants. His name: Zohran Kwame Mamdani. And he stands a...
The New York mayoral candidate was once a singer in a Ugandan band. Imagine this: A Muslim. Thirty-three years old. Born in Uganda, raised in South...
The sonic migration moves of Mo Laudi Between the African continent and Europe stretches more than distance—there’s a charged field of echoes, migrations, and imagination. Globalisto: A Philosophy in Flux – Acts of an Imbizo was a landmark exhibition curated by Mo Laudi (Ntshepe Tsekere Bopape), held from 25 June to 16 October 2022 at the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Saint-Étienne Métropole (MAMC+), France. It convened 17 artists from Africa and its diaspora, alongside researchers and...
The sonic migration moves of Mo Laudi Between the African continent and Europe stretches more than distance—there’s a charged field of echoes,...
The Amsterdam-based No Man’s Art Gallery presents the third solo exhibition of the South African artist and cultural worker. Nxedlana’s practice examines the material and symbolic embodiment of the Black figure within fashion photography. Grounded in Afrosurrealism, his imagery engages themes of race, identity, popular culture, and mass production. He has exhibited internationally across galleries, institutions, and independent spaces. Recent exhibitions include SPECTRUM (2023), his second solo...
The Amsterdam-based No Man’s Art Gallery presents the third solo exhibition of the South African artist and cultural worker. Nxedlana’s practice examines...
In 1964, African-American civil rights leader Malcolm X visited Gaza. This hidden story is brought to life in a new colouring book with stunning illustrations by Soweto-based artist Nathi Ngubane. The book traces Malcolm’s travels across Africa and the Middle East, as well as his historic two-day visit in Gaza, during which he visited the Khan Younis refugee camp, toured the mosques and markets, and listened to poetry and the stories of Palestinians who had been displaced by the Nakba, the...
In 1964, African-American civil rights leader Malcolm X visited Gaza. This hidden story is brought to life in a new colouring book with stunning...
Three captivating exhibitions featuring the works of Tengbeh Kamara, Buhlebezwe Siwani, and Michelle Sank have recently opened in Amsterdam. Why You Left, Who You Left by Tengbeh Kamara Tengbeh Kamara This photo exhibition is a personal quest to explore what it truly means to feel at home. In this two-part series, Tengbeh Kamara investigates their father’s decision to return to his native Liberia, leaving his wife and three young children behind in the Netherlands. Kamara’s father came to the...
Three captivating exhibitions featuring the works of Tengbeh Kamara, Buhlebezwe Siwani, and Michelle Sank have recently opened in Amsterdam. Why You...
The South African artist was announced as the winner of the prestigious Börsche Prize at the Photographers’ Gallery in London on May 15. The influential prize, held in partnership with the Deutsche Börsche Photography Foundation, recognises artists and their projects that have made the most significant contribution to international contemporary photography over the past 12 months. Lindokuhle Sobekwa (b. 1995, South Africa) was awarded the Prize for his book I Carry Her Photo with Me , published by...
The South African artist was announced as the winner of the prestigious Börsche Prize at the Photographers’ Gallery in London on May 15. The influential...
Charles Badoue (Ivory Coast, 1987) and Harrison Omoyater (Nigeria, 1994) both fled their home countries. “Art is a remedy for loss and pain.” “Memories of where I grew up slipped out of my mind,” Charles Badoue says in a video accompanying the exhibition he takes part in. While bright colours help mask a dark past, bringing light into the darkness, his paintings also bring repressed memories back to life. A violent conflict in which 800 people died forced him to flee. It was “a massacre by our own...
Charles Badoue (Ivory Coast, 1987) and Harrison Omoyater (Nigeria, 1994) both fled their home countries. “Art is a remedy for loss and pain.” “Memories...
By documenting life in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, the photographer explores grief through art. In Unyọñ Ufọk , Emily Nkanga explores grief, identity, and home. Through analog photographs, Nkanga captures fleeting moments of everyday life in her hometown of Akwa Ibom, Nigeria. The images act as a time capsule, preserving the beauty of life’s transient moments. The project began in January 2021, when Nkanga returned home for her father’s burial. After living in the UK for more than seven years, she was...
By documenting life in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, the photographer explores grief through art. In Unyọñ Ufọk , Emily Nkanga explores grief, identity, and home....
A new exhibition in Paris celebrates the presence and influence of 150 Black artists in France between the 1950s and 2000. To those familiar with the Présence Africaine Review and Revue Noire , Gerard Sekoto, Wilson Tibério, Ben Enwonwu, or Ernest Mancoba are household names. However, their artistic creations have hardly been on display in France before. And this goes for most of the works by the 150 artists now represented at the Centre Pompidou. Sekoto’s 1946 self-portrait has become the face of...
A new exhibition in Paris celebrates the presence and influence of 150 Black artists in France between the 1950s and 2000. To those familiar with the...
