The Wetsi (art) Gallery is a Brussels-based space that aims to develop an artistic and cultural program centered around Afrodescendant artists, and thus promote an image of Africa freed from its usual clichés. Anne Wetsi Mpoma, independent curator and art historian, and co-founder of the project, has spent the last fifteen years studying artists from the African diaspora in Belgium and advocating the decolonization of physical, mental and institutional spaces through art and culture. To this end, in addition to intra muros projects, extra muros collaborations are set up to promote the work of Afrodescendant visual artists in predominantly white institutions.

After the screening of Pascale Obolo’s film, La Fabrique des contre-récits, a film produced in 2020 as part of the first subsidized exhibition showcasing the work of women artists from Belgium and France, True her (Through her). This exhibition was never made accessible to the public, as part of the exceptional measures taken during the Covid-19 health crisis. Filmmaker and project co-curator Pascale Obolo interviews some of the artists involved in the project: Luna Mahoux, Agnès Lalau, Laura Nsengiyumva, Hélène Amouzou, Mireille Asia Nyembo. Based on the question: can a museum collection be decolonized? The artists share their sources of inspiration, the way they perceive their work, and their relationships with institutions.

Choreographer Alesandra Seutin and Anne Wetsi Mpoma will then talk to the public about their careers as Afro-Belgian artists and curators. A journey full of obstacles and successes to be celebrated with joy.

This evening is aimed at anyone curious and keen to (re)discover the work of black women artists living and/or working in Belgium.
Possibility to ask questions in NL and EN.

Schedule :
18h – doors open
6:30pm – screening of the film La Fabrique des Contre-Récits by Pascale Obolo
7:15pm – break
7:30pm – Art talk: What place for black women artists and/or intellectuals in Belgium? with Alesandra Seutin and Anne Wetsi Mpoma
9:00 pm – End of talks