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Europa Oxalá @ AfricaMuseum

The exhibition Europa, Oxalá presents works by 21 European artists with African origin. These artists, born and raised in a post-colonial context, reflect on their heritage, their memories and their identities. The set of artworks that will be exhibited at the AfricaMuseum between October 7th and March 5th 2023 nurtures an original reflection on racism, the decolonising of the arts, the status of women and artists in contemporary society and the deconstruction of colonial thinking. 

The curators of the exhibition, António Pinto Ribeiro, Katia Kameli and Aimé Mpane explain that it is an exhibition that aims to smash up existing clichés and which allows us to see new energy pointing towards the future. The title of the exhibition points exactly in that direction, by introducing a word - oxalá - which is the result of centuries of integration, and which translates an idea of a future under construction, in a Europe that represents a common ground for all these artists.

Curators of the exhibition

António Pinto Ribeiro has a degree in Philosophy and a PhD in Cultural Studies, António Pinto Ribeiro’s professional activity is rooted in cultural programming and research. He has been the artistic director of Culturgest since its inception (1993-2004), and director of artistic programmes at the Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian (2004-2015). Curator of a number of international exhibitions, he was also general curator of “Lisbon, Ibero-American Capital of Culture 2017”. Currently, he is a researcher at the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra, in the team of the ERC project MEMOIRS – Children of Empires and European Postmemories and serves as an international arts programmer. 

Katia Kameli graduated from the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts de Bourges and completed the post-graduate course “Le Collège-Invisible” at the École supérieure d’art& de design de Marseille. Her work has achieved visibility and recognition on the international art and film scene and has been shown in solo exhibitions: Her artworks are part of the following collections: Musée National d’Art Moderne/Centre Georges Pompidou, Centre National des Arts Plastiques (CNAP), FRAC Hauts-de-France, FRAC Poitou-Charentes and FRAC PACA, Marseille.

Aimé Mpane splits his time between Kinshasa and Brussels. His art is fed by the trips back and forth between Africa and Europe. Aimé Mpane’s work primarily addresses the legacy and traces of colonialism in Africa, but never in a self-pitying way. He appeals to the solidarity of the human race and to the collective consciousness. His artworks speak of human dignity, hope, courage, empathy and perseverance.