‘Focus on When We See Us’

Alongside ‘joy’, ‘colour’ and ‘representation’, another word that springs to mind when visiting When We See Us is ‘unprecedented’. A word that is even more apt now that the exhibition has travelled from Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, South Africa to Brussels, following a stop in Basel. How have generations of artists from Africa and the African diaspora viewed themselves over the course of a century? For the artists, everything revolves around this gaze: their own, as well as that of the people of colour they portray. 

A multitude of events are inspired by the kaleidoscopic exhibition. By the Black joy it portrays. Six Sofa Sessions each highlight a theme from the exhibition and discuss it in an intimate conversation between artist and audience. Our nocturnes Bozar All Over the P(a)lace give a stage to that black joy in the form of performances, DJ sets and lectures. Our film programme also shows us to look from the point of view of Black artists, as do the inspiring voices at Talks & Debates.