When We See Us

At the heart of this chapter is pride in one's own history and in what has been achieved - despite the most adverse circumstances and centuries of oppression. On the first floor of the museum, visitors encounter world-famous icons such as in Chéri Chérin's painting Obama Revolution (2009) at eye level with nameless but strong figures such as in Ibrahim El-Salahi's Portrait of a Sudanese Gentleman (1951). They depict people who look after the cultural assets of their ancestors, committed politicians and people who represent success and social recognition.

Artists: Benny Andrews, Margaret Taylor Burroughs, Chéri Chérin, Kudzanai Chiurai, Aboubacar Diané, Ibrahim El-Salahi, Ben Enwonwu, Gherdai Hassell, Wifredo Lam, Akinola Lasekan, Mustafa Maluka, Eria Nsubuga ‘Sane’, Augustin Okoye, George Pemba, Chéri Samba, Mmapula Mmakgabo Helen Sebidi, Gerard Sekoto, Katlego Tlabela, Cyprien Tokoudagba

In Sensuality, Black bodies are shown in an intimate and self-confident way that the Western canon of images has hardly ever allowed. Roméo Mivekannin's Le modèle noir, d'après Félix Vallotton (2019) makes direct reference to this canon, as does Sahara Long's Reclining Nude with Lemon (2021). The chapter shows the multifaceted spectra of sensuality, love and intimate affection. What all the works have in common is the self-determination of the protagonists.

Artists: Nina Chanel Abney, Olusegun Adejumo, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Maxwell Alexandre, Tiffany Alfonseca, Dominic Chambers, Somaya Critchlow, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux, Aboubacar Diané, Ibrahima Kébé, Yoyo Lander, Sahara Longe, Danielle McKinney, Roméo Mivekannin, Moké, Geoffrey Mukasa, Chris Ofili, Kambui Olujimi, Tschabalala Self, Monsengo Shula, Mickalene Thomas, Bob Thompson, Kehinde Wiley

According to the curators, everyday black life without spirituality is hardly conceivable. The chapter stands for the "triple heritage" described by the Kenyan-American writer Ali Mazrui (1933-2014) in his book The Africans: A Triple Heritage: 'Black Life' in its permeability to indigenous, Islamic and Christian traditions and rituals. The works presented here show lived spirituality, including Jacob Lawrence's Genesis Creation (1989) and Michael Armitage's The Dumb Oracle (2019).

Artists: Michael Armitage, Gerard Bhengu, Wilson Bigaud, Edouard DuvalCarrié, Aaron Douglas, Scherezade García, Jacob Lawrence, Cassi Namoda, Malangatana Ngwenya, Kambui Olujimi, Emma Pap', Naudline Pierre, Prosper Pierre-Louis, María Magdalena Campos Pons, Cinga Samson, Gerard Sekoto, Devan Shimoyama, Alex Shyngle, Sthembiso Sibisi, Olivier Souffrant, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum, Nirit Takele

Paintings such as Aaron Douglas' Boy with a Toy Plane (1938), William H. Johnson's The Reader (1939), Joy Labinjo's Gisting in the Kitchen (2018) or Johnny Arts' advertising poster for Ozor International Barber also Specialist in Hair Dying and Shampooing (1962) show the beauty of everyday life. The chapter presents public and private scenes with moments of joy or contemplation: in the family, in the community, at play, at school, carrying water or braiding hair.

Artists: Johnny Arts, Malang Badji, Romare Bearden, Aaron Douglas, Gervais Emmanuel Ducasse, Ben Enwonwu, Ablade Glover, Gavin Janties, William H. Johnson, Kangudia, Ibrahima Kébé, Joy Labinjo, Petson Lombe, Marvelous Mangena, Luis Meque, Moké, Meleko Mokgosi, Richard Mudariki, Theresa Mungure, Lavar Munroe, Chemu Ng'ok, Nicholous Njau, Boris Nzebo, Antoine Obin, Télémaque Obin, Bruce Onobrakpeya, George Pemba, Horace Pippin, Kingsley Sambo, Gerard Sekoto, Ancent Soi, Moustapha Souley, Edward Saidi Tingatinga, Zandile Tshabalala, Sane Wadu, Richard Witikani

The chapter on joy and exuberance is dedicated to moments of celebration and leisure activities: there is always time for a song or a dance, according to the curators. People sing for Steve Biko in Esiri Erheriene-Essi's The Birthday Party (2021), join in the parade in Philomé Obin's Un mardi de Carnaval (1960) or listen to the rhythms in Romare Bearden's Jazz Rhapsody (1982).

Artists: Romare Bearden, Esiri Erheriene-Essi, Barkley L. Hendricks, Clementine Hunter, Jacob Lawrence, Arjan Martins, Moké, Cinthia Sifa Mulanga, Eric Ndlovu, Nicholous Njau, Nestor Vuza Ntoko, Philomé Obin, George Pemba, Chéri Samba, Matundu Tanda, Katlego Tlabela, Charles White

Moments of tranquillity are on a par with exuberance. The third floor of the Gegenwart building leaves room for this. Here, people loll on the sofa as in Sundials and Sonnets (2019) by Wangari Mathenge, stroll through the countryside as in Toyin Ojih Odutola's Surveying the Family Seat (2017) or simply sit and enjoy the peace and quiet as in Kudzanai-Violecherit Hwami's An evening in Mazowe (2019) - relaxed people everywhere, alone or in intimate conversation.

Artists: Cornelius Annor, Gideon Appah, Firelei Báez, Amoako Boafo, Beauford Delaney, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, Wangari Mathenge, Neo Matloga, Sungi Mlengeya, Ian Mwesiga, Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Eniwaye Oluwaseyi, Marc Padeu, Zéh Palito, Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Henry Taylor, Zandile Tshabalala, Kehinde Wiley, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye

Koyo Kouoh has been Director and Chief Curator of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) in Cape Town since 2019. Kouoh grew up in Switzerland and moved to Dakar, Senegal, in the 1990s, where she founded the art institution RAW Material Company, a center for art, knowledge and society, in 2008. She was also its artistic director. Before and in parallel, Kouoh organized and curated major exhibitions and biennials worldwide (including Ataraxia, the Salon Suisse at the 2017 Venice Biennale). She has also published extensively on the international significance of the pan-African art community. In 2020, Kouoh was awarded the Prix Meret Oppenheim as one of the most important and influential personalities on the international art scene because, as a curator, critic and founder of cultural institutions, she has shown new ways of mediation and made a lasting contribution to bringing art from the African continent into a global context.

Born in Zimbabwe, Tandazani Dhlakama has been working as a curator and in art education at Zeitz MOCAA since 2017. Prior to that, she worked at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe and was involved in various capacities in exhibitions, conferences and biennials in Africa. Dhlakama holds a Master's degree in Art Gallery and Museum Studies from the University of Leeds, UK (2015), and a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts and Political Science from St. Lawrence University, Canton, N.Y. (2011). Most recently, she curated Witness at El Espacio 23 in Miami: Afro Perspectives from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection - an exhibition on systematic oppression, intergenerational trauma, new worldviews, identity and habitat.