Being Her(e)

Being Her(e) continues the explorations on identity initiated in Being and Becoming Complexities of the African Identity in 2016 and examines the historical and contemporary perceptions of what it means to be a female body in contemporary Africa. The double interplay in the title implies not only a presence denoted through time and place – being here – but also an irrefutable and defiant female presence, which articulates itself as an individual – being her.
Navigating a historiography of the body, which chooses to articulate its presence and impact, Being Her(e) proposes a reflection on the act of myth-making in relation to the female body, embodying and performing ‘woman’ and female interiority. It does so, by addressing various themes, including gender, agency, subjectivity, memory, belonging, sexuality, and identity.
The artworks curated and presented in Being Her(e) confront, contextualize, and question the historical and contemporary notions of what it means to be a female body in Africa as well as the African diaspora, questioning preconceived ideas about womanhood and femaleness, as well as a reflection on the somehow elusive theme of identity and its representation.