When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting has been highlighted and acclaimed internationally as one of the most significant exhibitions in contemporary art.

The exhibition features over 148 works from institutional and private lenders located across 16 countries, bringing together artworks from the past 100 years, created by Black artists worldwide. The exhibition places these works in dialogue with Black thinkers, writers, and poets active today.

When We See Us is conceived and organized by Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), where it deeply resonated with its audience and subsequently travelled to Kunstmuseum Basel in Basel and Bozar in Brussels. With a primary focus on painting, the exhibition celebrates how artists from Africa and its diaspora (people of African descent living outside the continent) have envisioned, positioned, memorialized and asserted experiences from Africa and of African descent. The exhibition is co-curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, appointed Curator of the 61st International Art Exhibition of the 2026 Venice Biennale, and Tandazani Dhlakama, former Zeitz MOCAA Curator and current Curator of Global Africa at Royal Ontario Museum (ROM).

“The exhibition refuses to place Eurocentric narratives of oppression at the centre.”

”When We See Us invites reflection on how Black artists over the past century have used figuration to depict various aspects of everyday life, including intimacy, belonging, joy and resilience. The exhibition refuses to place Eurocentric narratives of oppression at the centre. It highlights Koyo Kouoh’s curatorial vision of placing African and diasporic practices at the centre of global art history”, says Dhlakama.

The exhibition is organized around six themes: The Everyday, Joy and Revelry, Repose, Sensuality, Spirituality, and Triumph and Emancipation. Based on these themes, the exhibition offers a rich and nuanced picture of Black life and thought, emphasising the resilience, essence and political charge of Black Joy. The exhibition is grounded in a curatorial premise that shifts away from centering violence and trauma – subjects that have traditionally been associated with art from Africa and its diaspora.

“When We See Us presents an alternative modernity, highlighting artistic practices that have been historically excluded in Western Art History. The exhibition offers visitors a unique opportunity to experience art that has never been shown in Sweden,” says Joanna Sandell Wright, collaborating curator of the exhibition, director and artistic leader of Liljevalchs.

The title of the exhibition is inspired by Ava DuVernay’s 2019 miniseries When They See Us, it depicts various forms of violence against Black people as still witnessed globally today. Replacing “they” with “we” in the title indicates the crucial perspectival shift: The works on show bring into focus the artists’ lived realities. When We See Us highlights the relationships between artists and artworks across geographical, generational, and conceptual boundaries, showcasing what Koyo Kouoh describes as a “parallel aesthetic.” It is a concept that Kouoh has used to describe how artists across the world develop similar artistic expressions sharing the same context.

The exhibition features works by artists never before shown in Sweden, including Zandile Tshabalala, Jacob Lawrence, Chéri Samba, Danielle McKinney, Ben Enwonwu, Kingsley Sambo, Sungi Mlengeya, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Cyprien Tokoudagba, Amy Sherald, and Joy Labinjo, among others. The exhibition is accompanied by a sonic translation created by South African composer and sound artist Neo Muyanga.

In connection with the exhibition in Stockholm, Liljevalchs has invited Southnord to curate a series of events over the course of the show. Southnord is a groundbreaking platform dedicated to uplifting Black and Afrodiasporic artists in the Nordic region. They have brought together a group of inspiring Afro-Swedes to activate the exhibition through guided tours, themed walkthroughs, sonic performances, readings for children, portrait workshops for youth and more.

A hardcover poetic catalog, published in conjunction with the exhibition by Thames & Hudson in collaboration with Zeitz MOCAA and edited by Koyo Kouoh, will be available for sale in Liljevalchs’ shop. The catalog is comprehensive and richly illustrated with all the works selected for the exhibition and includes a contextual essay by the exhibition’s co-curator Tandazani Dhlakama as well as four specially commissioned texts by acclaimed women writers: Ken Bugul (Senegal), Maaza Mengiste (Ethiopia), Robin Coste Lewis (USA) and Bill Kouelany (Congo-Brazzaville).

Foto: Jean-Baptiste Béranger