Group show
Closing soon
Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and Political Imagination
14 Dec 2025 — 25 Jul 2026 at Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
· New York
Jean Depara
Seydou Keita
Malick Sidibe
Sanle Sory
James Barnor
Kwame Brathwaite
Samuel Fosso
Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Can a photographic portrait inspire political imagination? Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and Political Imagination examines how photographers and their sitters contributed to the proliferation of Pan-African solidarity during the mid-20th century.
Embracing the international spirit of the time, the exhibition gathers striking pictures by photographers working in Central and West African cities. They created images of everyday citizens, dazzling music scenes, and potent manifestations of youth culture that reflected emerging political realities.
Photographs by Jean Depara, Seydou Keita, Malick Sidibe, and Sanle Sory portray residents across Bamako, Bobo-Dioulasso, and Kinshasa at a time when the winds of decolonial change swept the African continent in tandem with the burgeoning US Civil Rights movement.
The exhibition also spotlights James Barnor and Kwame Brathwaite — photographers living in Europe and North America who contributed to the construction of Africa as a political idea. Contemporary works by artists such as Samuel Fosso, Silvia Rosi, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby show the enduring relevance of these themes.
Brimming with possibility, Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and Political Imagination embraces the creative potential of the photographic portrait and its political resonance across the globe.
Embracing the international spirit of the time, the exhibition gathers striking pictures by photographers working in Central and West African cities. They created images of everyday citizens, dazzling music scenes, and potent manifestations of youth culture that reflected emerging political realities.
Photographs by Jean Depara, Seydou Keita, Malick Sidibe, and Sanle Sory portray residents across Bamako, Bobo-Dioulasso, and Kinshasa at a time when the winds of decolonial change swept the African continent in tandem with the burgeoning US Civil Rights movement.
The exhibition also spotlights James Barnor and Kwame Brathwaite — photographers living in Europe and North America who contributed to the construction of Africa as a political idea. Contemporary works by artists such as Samuel Fosso, Silvia Rosi, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby show the enduring relevance of these themes.
Brimming with possibility, Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and Political Imagination embraces the creative potential of the photographic portrait and its political resonance across the globe.
About the artist
Jean Depara
1928–1997
Lemvo Jean Abou Bakar Depara, commonly known as Depara (1928–1997), was an Angolan-born photographer, who worked in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
About the artist →
Seydou Keita
1921–2001
Seydou Keïta was a Malian photographer known for his portraits of people and families he took at his portrait photography studio in Mali's capital, Bamako, in the 1950s. His photographs are widely acknowledged not only as a record of Malian society but also as pieces of art.
About the artist →About the venue
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
· New York
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, and includes over 200,000 works of architecture and design, drawing, painting, sculpture…
