Practical
Friday, 7 February, 2025 up to and including Sunday, 10 August, 2025
- 11:00 until 19:00
BOZAR - Paleis voor schone kunsten
Ravensteinstraat 23
1000 Brussel
Ravensteinstraat 23
1000 Brussel
As academic partner of this exhibition, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel invites you to visit When We See Us at Bozar.
Inspired by Ava DuVernay's series When They See Us, the exhibition title When We See Us reflects a fundamental perspective exploring Black self-representation and global Black subjectivities. The approximately 150 works by around 120 artists are grouped into six themes: The Everyday, Joy & Revelry, Repose, Sensuality, Spirituality, and Triumph and Emancipation.
By focusing on these themes, the exhibition offers a rich, nuanced view of Black life and thought, emphasising the resilience, essence, and political charge of Black joy. It highlights relationships between artists and artworks across geographic, generational, and conceptual contexts, fostering a deeper understanding of a complex and underrepresented genealogy rooted in African and Black modernities. When We See Us encourages discussion on Black liberation and intellectual movements and celebrates experiences from Africa and the African diaspora contributing to the art historical canon.
The exhibition was curated by Koyo Kouoh, Executive Director and Chief Curator of Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town, who tragically passed away in May 2025. On this exhibition, she worked closely with co-curator Tandazani Dhlakama.
This exhibition is conceived and organised by Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) In Cape Town. When We See Us is presented at Bozar under the Patronage of Her Majesty the Queen.
Academic partnership with VUB
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) is involved in the exhibition as an academic partner, by contributing through public programmes, lectures, and educational materials. This partnership enriches the exhibition, encouraging visitors to engage both visually and intellectually with the themes presented. In doing so, VUB aims to contribute to the broader social and intellectual discourse sparked by this exhibition, creating a dynamic exchange between art and academia.
The collaboration was initiated by the Centre for Literary and Intermedial Crossings (CLIC) in consultation with the VUB University Library.
