When We See Us
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A Sunday Times Art Book of the Year
This major new study of Black figurative art and self-representation from Africa and the African diaspora features more than 200 paintings by 161 artists. These carefully selected works explore the many ways in which artists have imagined, positioned, remembered and asserted African and diasporic experiences from the early 20th century to now. In particular, they demonstrate how painters have contributed to the ongoing discussions around pan-Africanism, civil rights, African liberation and independence, the Anti-Apartheid and Black Consciousness movements, Black Lives Matter and, more recently, Afropolitanism.
A series of thematic sections – on subjects such as sensuality, spirituality and emancipation – is interspersed with specially commissioned stories and poems by leading writers Ken Bugul, Maaza Mengiste, Bill Kouélany and Robin Coste Lewis. These percipient reflections on the Black experience work with the paintings to deepen the debate about Black subjectivity.
The book coincides with a landmark exhibition at Zeitz MOCAA (Museum of Contemporary Art Africa), Cape Town.
This major new study of Black figurative art and self-representation from Africa and the African diaspora features more than 200 paintings by 161 artists. These carefully selected works explore the many ways in which artists have imagined, positioned, remembered and asserted African and diasporic experiences from the early 20th century to now. In particular, they demonstrate how painters have contributed to the ongoing discussions around pan-Africanism, civil rights, African liberation and independence, the Anti-Apartheid and Black Consciousness movements, Black Lives Matter and, more recently, Afropolitanism.
A series of thematic sections – on subjects such as sensuality, spirituality and emancipation – is interspersed with specially commissioned stories and poems by leading writers Ken Bugul, Maaza Mengiste, Bill Kouélany and Robin Coste Lewis. These percipient reflections on the Black experience work with the paintings to deepen the debate about Black subjectivity.
The book coincides with a landmark exhibition at Zeitz MOCAA (Museum of Contemporary Art Africa), Cape Town.
Extent: 336 pp
Format: PLC (no jacket)
Illustrations: 241
Publication date: 2023-01-19
Size: 28.0 x 21.0 cm
ISBN: 9780500025888
Press Reviews
Sunday Times, Art Books of the Year
The World of Interiors
About the Authors
Koyo Kouoh (1967-2025) was described by the New York Times as one of Africa's pre-eminent art curators and managers. She was Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), Cape Town, at the time of her death in 2025. She received the Swiss Grand Award for Art / Prix Meret Oppenheim in recognition of her contribution to the understanding of contemporary art in 2020.
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