Evan Ifekoya Ritual Without Belief, 2018 The Welcome (from “Resonant Frequencies”), 2022
Credit: Installation images, Black Ancient Futures, at the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT), Lisbon. Cred. Pedro Pina.
REVIEW
Black
Ancient
Futures
Location: MAAT
Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology
Lisbon, Portugal
Open now until 16th March 2025
Curators: Camila Maissune and João Pinharanda
“Those discussions are not very open in Portugal yet, people think that we are ‘very good’ colonisers. We always say that the Spanish were very brutal and we were very kind, that’s always the idea. It’s false.”
— João Pinharanda, Director of MAAT
The Black Ancient Futures exhibition marks an unprecedented moment in Portugal’s cultural landscape, uniting artists from Africa and the diaspora in a powerful dialogue about the interconnectedness of the Black past, present, and future. Hosted at the Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology (MAAT) in Lisbon, this multidisciplinary showcase blurs the boundaries of time, space, and medium, creating an immersive experience that is as thought-provoking as it is transformative.
Spanning the expansive MAAT exhibition space and extending into the outdoor courtyard, the exhibition weaves together sculpture, installation, sound, film, and performance. Each piece challenges conventional narratives, offering new perspectives on history and identity while imagining futures rooted in ancestral connections.
MAAT Gallery: Evan Ifekoya Ritual Without Belief, 2018; The Welcome (from “Resonant Frequencies”), 2022; Lungiswa Gqunta Sleep in Witness, 2024; Kiluanji Kia Henda Icarus 13. The first journey to the sun, 2013; Gabriel Massan & Collaborators Third World: The Bottom Dimension, 2023 – ongoing; Jota Mombaça Seu Sangue É Terra que Ninguém Pisa, 2024.
Tabita Rezaire Peaceful Warrior, 2015 Ultra Wet – Recapitulation, 2017
One of the most striking moments of the exhibition took place outdoors, where Jeanette Ehlers presented the performance We're Magic. We're Real #3 (These Walls). Women were tied to the building by long cornrows, evoking an evocative take on the Rapunzel fairy tale while serving as a poignant commentary on the history, politics, and symbolism of African hair.
The imagery powerfully spoke to themes of entanglement, resilience, and liberation.
L: Jeanette Ehlers presented the performance We're Magic. We're Real #3 (These Walls)
R: Jeannette Ehlers We’re Magic. We’re Real #3 (Channeling Re-existence into Hallowed Grounds of Healing), 2021 We’re Magic. We’re Real #2, 2021
Inside, the interplay between natural elements and human history was brought to life through installations that symbolically “brought the outside in.” Evan Ifekoya’s use of water underscored its role as both a life-giving force and a carrier of diasporic stories, while in Lungiswa Gqunta’s Sleep in Witness, sand and sediment were used along with barbed wire ‘tumbleweed,’ making tangible the idea of layered histories.
L: Evan Ifekoya Ritual Without Belief, 2018
R: The Welcome (from “Resonant Frequencies”), 2022
“It’s very sharp, and it’s important
to keep that element of it. It’s a toned down version of it, but it always is a marker of violence…so for me it’s important that it still has that threat”
— Lungiswa Gqunta
Lungiswa Gqunta Sleep in Witness, 2024
Gabriel Massan’s Third World: The Bottom Dimension revealed a gentler aspect, presenting
a tactile installation of soft sculptures that offered a welcoming space for audiences to
engage and interact with their video game, seamlessly bridging the physical and digital realms. Visitors found themselves not just spectators but participants in a reimagining of
Black temporalities, deeply engaged with the idea that the past, present, and future are intrinsically interwoven.
Gabriel Massan & Collaborators Third World: The Bottom Dimension, 2023 – ongoing
“I’m not quite so attached to the story itself that I tell in my works, I'm more interested in how it’s perceived on an unconscious level…[it] creates a space where people can come together and talk, and learn together and be together.”
— Gabriel Massan
Black Ancient Futures challenges audiences to reconsider the weight of history, the vitality of the present, and the infinite possibilities of the future through the lens of Black creativity and experience. It stands as a testament to the power of art to inspire, provoke, and connect across time and space.
Baloji Altar / Peau de chagrin / Bleu de Nuit, 2018–2024
MAAT Central: Jeannette Ehlers We’re Magic. We’re Real #3 (Channeling Re-existence into Hallowed Grounds of Healing), 2021 We’re Magic. We’re Real #2, 2021; Sandra Mujinga And My Body Carried All of You, 2024; Nolan Oswald Dennis Eclipse Study Chart, 2024; Kiluanji Kia Henda The Cloak of the Presentation (According Arthur Bispo do Rosário), 2020.
MAAT Garden :Jota Mombaça Não Esqueço Nunca Mais, 2024; Nolan Oswald Dennis Recurse 4 [3] Worlds, 2018 – ongoing
Curated by independent curator Camila Maissune and MAAT Director João Pinharanda,
Black Ancient Futures is on display at Lisbon's Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology
until 17th March 2025.
Written by: Aurella Yussuf
Design and photography by: Abi Wright