WIELS Exhibition - Multiple Transmissions: Art in the Afropolitan Age

This group exhibition brings together 8 contemporary African artists. Sinzo Aanza, Simnikiwe Buhlungu, Pélagie Gbaguidi, Jean Katambayi, Nelson Makengo, Emeka Ogboh, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum and Georges Senga invite us to observe the transversal legacies and global resonances of ideas, images, sounds and energies that run through contemporary African productions. Their paintings, videos, installations, sound pieces and photographic works weave physical and imaginary geographies that participate in the 'Afropolitan' era. Thanks to the partnership between WIELS and Africalia, Nelson Makengo and Simnikiwe Buhlungu were able to participate in the WIELS residency program and design the works shown in this exhibition. This exhibition can be discovered at WIELS in Brussels from May 25 to August 18, 2019.

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Group exhibitions Multiple Transmissions: Art in the Afropolitan Age (Multiple Transmissions: Art in the Afropolitan Age) takes as its starting point the African artists who took part in the WIELS residency programme between 2015 and 2019. Now an integral part of the global artistic landscape, residencies set artists in motion around the world, immersing them in a given place for a set period of time. Artists, and African artists in particular, have become the successive inhabitants of several places and cities: they have become "artists". Afropolitans ". Mainly developed by the thinker Achille Mbembe, the concept refers to the transnational cultures and aesthetics of the 21st century that identify themselves as African. Both inside and outside the continent, the physical and mental itineraries of these artists have developed radically plural geographies. Created between Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Johannesburg and Brussels, the works of the residents are presented here alongside other artistic practices equally imbued with these global movements.

The merit of Afropolitanism is that it forces us to recognise the multiplicity of transversal and global influences and heritages that are those of today's African artists. At a time when political regimes around the world are witnessing an alarming rise in xenophobia, when borders are being erected everywhere and migrants are being left to die on the shores of Europe, Afropolitanism offers a formidable model for transcending geographies, nationalities, languages and time zones.

Artists : Nelson Makengo, Jean Katambayi, Georges Senga, Sinzo Aanza, Simnikiwe Buhlungu, Emeka Ogboh, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum and Pélagie Gbaguidi

Curator : Sandrine Colard

Practical information

Opening: 24.05.2019, 8.00-10.00 pm
Exhibition dates : 25.05 > 18.08.2019
Open for business: Tuesday to Sunday, 11.00 am - 6.00 pm
Location: WIELS, Avenue Van Volxem 354, 1190 Brussels
For further information: www.wiels.org

Credits

With the support of : Africalia, Imane Farès Gallery (Paris), Tiwani Gallery (London).
Nelson Makengo's new production is supported by Argos, Centre for Audiovisual Arts.
In collaboration with : La Biennale de Lubumbashi and Picha.
As part of : Brussels Art Summit.

(Text from WIELS : www.wiels.org)