Titled “Black Ancient Futures,” the group exhibition brings together Portuguese-speaking artists and artists from other African diaspora nationalities who reflect on the possibility of spaces conducive to utopias and new interpretations of racial and historical justice.

At the same time, two other exhibitions open to the public at MAAT: “The whole world’s a stage”, about the work of the North American artist William Klein (1926-2022), and “Inverted on us”, by the artist Catarina Dias.

Baloji, April Bey, Jeannette Ehlers, Lungiswa Gqunta, Evan Ifekoya, Kiluanji Kia Henda, Nolan Oswald Dennis, Gabriel Massan, Jota Mombaça, Sandra Mujinga and Tabita Rezaire are the artists participating in the exhibition “Black Ancient Futures”, curated by João Pinharanda, artistic director of MAAT, and Camila Maissune.

“The initial idea was to bring artists who had never exhibited in Portugal or presented works in small group exhibitions.”

“Here, each artist was given a specific, very large area, which gives visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves in the installations with more space.”

Said João Pinharanda, during a guided tour for journalists, held today.

The exhibition opens with the work “The Welkome” (2022), by Nigerian artist Evan Ifekoya, purposefully placed at the entrance “to give a sense of welcome to the visitor”.

The installation – which places a reservoir of water inside, the ripples of which are reproduced through light on the ceiling – “is a metaphor for openness, cleansing and transformation,” explained the artist, adding that the piece “is loaded with symbolism” that references concepts of spirituality and cosmology from her ancestors.

Next door, an installation by Brazilian artist Gabriel Massan, entitled “Third World: the Bottom Dimension” (2023), shows the result of three years of work dedicated to the research and creation of a video game that takes on a critique of the way users navigate these entertainments: “Users act as colonizers, believing that the worlds they navigate must adapt to humans.”

João Pinharanda emphasized that the artists selected for this exhibition are African or of African origin, mostly born outside Africa.

"The idea of diaspora is very important in 'Black Ancient Futures' and also the way these artists integrate into the contemporary context, with what is special about them to be treated in this way, having a large exhibition space entirely dedicated to them."

He emphasized the exhibition that extends from the MAAT Central, the Gallery and the gardens.

MAAT's artistic director and curator Camila Maissune admitted that it took them a long time to find a title for this exhibition, so as "to avoid falling into clichés."

"We didn't want to put Africa, African, or the African diaspora in the title of the exhibition to avoid the idea that we're here making some kind of claim, or some kind of settling of scores with anything," explained João Pinharanda.

The objective, he stressed, was “to get out of this negative situation and bring the exhibition closer to something positive, hopeful, of great openness, abundance and happiness.”

For her part, Camila Maissune said she felt the need to “escape from narratives that always relegate Africa or the African diaspora to a heavy place, of scarcity or lack.”

"They are artists of a new generation who propose to think about alternative pasts, presents, and futures based on abundance, but without forgetting the historical wound of a colonial past, which cannot be erased," he emphasized.

“Black Ancient Futures” will be on display at MAAT until March 2025.