Art of Contemporary Africa

06/15/2026

Experience Memory in Motion online if you are unable to see the show in person.
| The Melrose Gallery

La Sentinelle des Marees , 2025 , Le Gardien du Temps Suspendu , 2025 , Memory in the Abyss, 2025 , Raising the Spirit Animal, 2026 , The Aftermath, 2026 , Watcher of the depths, 2025 , FACE ME , 2024 , FREEDOM IN THE RAIN 2026, 2026 , THE...

06/12/2026

In contemporary practice, material is never neutral.
It carries context. History. Evidence of its own existence before becoming part of the work.
Within Memory in Motion, material becomes central to how meaning is constructed.
Reclaimed surfaces, layered pigments, and found elements do not simply support the work
— they actively shape it.
They hold memory.
And in doing so, they challenge us to reconsider what we are looking at — not only as image,
but as accumulation.

06/10/2026

Memory is often understood as something fixed — a record of the past preserved in time.

Memory in Motion challenges that idea.
Throughout the exhibition, memory appears as something active and evolving.

It is carried through materials, traditions, identities, objects, stories, and relationships. It changes as it moves between generations, cultures, and lived experiences.

The artists featured in the exhibition explore memory not as a destination, but as a journey. Their works ask us to consider how the past continues to shape the present, and how today’s experiences become tomorrow’s memories

06/08/2026

Memory in Motion introduces Kebe Ibrahim Bemba.

Long before stories were written down, they were carried through voices, rituals, symbols, and generations of shared knowledge.

For Malian artist Kebe Ibrahim Bemba, memory exists within these spaces. His work explores the relationship between identity, heritage, and the enduring presence of ancestral knowledge in contemporary life. Drawing from West African traditions, oral histories, spiritual belief systems, and cultural symbolism, he creates works that bridge the past and the present.

Through painting, sculpture, and the use of recycled materials, Bemba constructs layered visual narratives that invite viewers to reflect on what is inherited, what is remembered, and what is passed forward.

His works often suggest worlds where the material and immaterial coexist, where mythology, memory, and lived experience intersect.

Within Memory in Motion, Bemba’s contribution reminds us that memory is not confined to archives or monuments. It lives within stories, traditions, rituals, and the cultural knowledge that continues to shape communities across generations.

Hear directly from Kebe Ibrahim Bemba as he shares insights into his practice and the ideas that inspire his work.

06/05/2026

Memory in Motion introduces Mwass Githinji.

Some memories are carried in objects. Others are carried in stories. And some remain hidden within us, shaping who we are long after the moment has passed.

For Kenyan artist Mwass Githinji, painting is a way of exploring those unseen spaces. Working on black canvases with oil paint, oil pastels, coffee, and other unconventional materials, he creates expressive compositions that examine vulnerability, imagination, and the complexity of the human spirit.

Drawing inspiration from African storytelling traditions, personal experiences, and the emotions we often leave unspoken, Githinji’s work invites viewers into deeply reflective spaces. His figures are not fixed representations of individuals but mirrors of shared human experiences—capturing moments of uncertainty, resilience, curiosity, and introspection.

Within Memory in Motion, his work reminds us that memory is not only collective or historical. It is also deeply personal. It lives within our emotions, our fears, our dreams, and the stories we tell ourselves about who we are.

Hear directly from Mwass Githinji as he shares insights into his practice and the ideas that continue to shape his work.

06/03/2026

Can materials remember?
Across Memory in Motion, artists transform denim, reclaimed wood, found objects, metal, paint, and textiles into vessels of memory. These materials carry traces of histories, journeys, labour, culture, and lived experience.
By reimagining what is often overlooked, the artists remind us that memory is not only preserved through words—it is also embedded within the objects that surround us.

06/03/2026

Congratulations to on his feature in The Sunday Times for his acclaimed photographic series, Real Heroes.

“They play football for joy, not money.”

At a moment when the world’s attention turns to football, Real Heroes reminds us where the heart of the game truly lives.

Through 32 powerful black-and-white photographs, Clint Strydom captures young South Africans playing football on beaches, in rural communities, and across open landscapes where passion, imagination, and determination matter far more than resources.

These are not the stars of packed stadiums or international broadcasts. Yet in their joy,
resilience, and unwavering love for the game, they embody the spirit of football itself.

Currently presented as an online exhibition on The Melrose Gallery website, Real Heroes
offers a moving portrait of community, hope, and belonging through the lens of one of South Africa’s most respected photographers.

Read the full Sunday Times article via the link :
https://www.sundaytimes.timeslive.co.za/lifestyle/2026-05-30-parting-shot-the-real-heroes/

06/02/2026

Memory in Motion: Identities, Materials and Resonances continues to unfold as a space for reflection, dialogue, and discovery.
Bringing together leading contemporary African artists, the exhibition explores how memory shapes identity across time, material, and experience.
There is still time to engage with this powerful body of work.
📍 AOCA, San Francisco

📅 Until 12 July 2026

06/01/2026

Memory in Motion introduces Mederic Turay.

What do we inherit from the past, and what do we carry into the future?

For Mederic Turay, memory is not a fixed archive. It is a living force—shaped by history, belief, imagination, and transformation.

Born in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Mederic Turay has developed a distinctive visual language that draws from Afrofuturism, African spiritual cosmologies, and contemporary culture. Through vibrant colour, layered surfaces, and symbolic imagery, his works create spaces where ancestral knowledge and contemporary experience coexist.

His practice explores the ways identities are continuously formed and reformed through memory. Histories, traditions, personal experiences, and imagined futures converge within his compositions, inviting viewers to consider the invisible threads that connect generations across time.

Within Memory in Motion, Mederic Turay’s work reflects the exhibition’s central premise: that memory is not something we simply inherit—it is something we actively construct. It evolves, adapts, and continues to shape how we understand ourselves and the world around us.

Hear directly from Mederic Turay as he shares insights into his practice and the ideas that inspire his work.