​

​

Afropeans is a series of portraits of Afro-Europeans inspired by the long history of the cross-cultural exchange between Europe and Africa. Around 1500, the Portugese came upon the Kingdom of Kongo, marking the beginning of a process of creolisation of the Kongo culture and society through Europeans. Around the same time, the European artists started portraying the African presence in Europe in their  paintings, showing how Africans—from slaves to members of the nobility helped shape European society. 

​

As with the Africans in the European paintings, the Afropeans’ socio-economic and political status can be read from their clothing and the  scarifications on their faces and bodies. Their bodies and clothes are   sites of memory and identity. Africa’s ancestral DNA and identity reveals itself on Europeans bodies, symbolising the African origins of humankind. Afropeans are a space of correlation, where African and European cultural traditions cohabit and merge.  

​

Flandria, the first character of this series, was the main protagonist of the lecture opera performance FLANDRIA staged in major Belgian  performing art centers in 2019.

​

WORKS 

​

Afropeans series 1_#1 to #5 

Digital print on metallic silver paper, price includes wooden frame 

​

​