The Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology Whirls an African-Diasporic Exhibition at Lisbon

The Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) in Portugal's capital will present an enchanting new exhibition titled "Black Ancient Futures" as part of its fall 2024 program. The exhibition on view from September 18, 2024, to March 17, 2025, brings together a multi-group of artists from the African diaspora to envision the past, present, and future through their artistic practices. 

April Bey, We Learned To Love Ourselves Until We Were Full Until We Did Not Need Yours Untill We Realized Our Own Was Enough, 2023. Courtesy of the artist and MAAT

The participating artists represent an array of communities from around the world, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, South Africa, Zambia, Nigeria, Brazil, Trinidad, and The Bahamas. The roster includes Jota Mombaça, Jeannette Ehlers, Evan Ifekoya, Nolan Oswald Dennis, Sandra Mujinga, April Bey, Gabriel Massan, Tabita Rezaire, Kiluanji Kia Henda, Lungiswa Gqunta, and Baloji.

The exhibition will feature a range of interdisciplinary works, including large-scale immersive and interactive installations. One highlight is Lungiswa Gqunta's site-specific work "Sleep in Witness" (2024), which invites Black women to shape a clay ground with their movements, becoming integral to the creation of the piece. 

Another notable work is Jeannette Ehlers' performance piece "We're Magic. We're Real #3 (These Walls)", which uses hair as a significant identity marker within the African diaspora, presenting a simple yet powerful gesture.

Through these spirals of artistic explorations, "Black Ancient Futures" aims to reimagine the past, present, and future of the Black artistic experience on a transcontinental scale. The exhibition challenges geographical hierarchies and invites visitors to speculate on utopian dreams of abundance and well-being. 

The exhibition opens from September 18, 2024, to March 17, 2025