Inheriting the Future

Inheriting the Future' brings together dynamic works by Zana Masombuka, Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, Alexis Peskine, and Djibril Dramé. About Displaying painting, sculpture and photography, this multilayered exhibition explores how each artist understands their own identity as a function of a specific heritage—blending past histories, cultural traditions and spiritual legacies— while acknowledging the changing environments in which they’ve developed and the disruptive impacts of globalisation. With powerful new works from her series, Akhulumile Amabhudango: Scenes from Dreams – Journeys with the Kosabo, Zana Masombuka navigates a liminal terrain between the physical and spiritual worlds, investigating themes of kingship, ascension and ancestral guidance. Through photography, beaded sculptural frames and symbolic objects drawn from Ndebele culture, Masombuka constructs a visual tour de force that explores the interrelation of lineage, destiny and sacred realms. By juxtaposing ancestral motives and elements of everyday familial life, Masombuka positions her Ndebele heritage both as a deeply personal inheritance and as an integral part of a broader cultural continuum. Striking new paintings by Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga consider the legacies of economic and botanical exploitation in the Democratic Republic of Congo during the calamitous period of Belgian occupation, from 1885 to 1960. The destructive legacy of these colonial practices endures in the loss of indigenous cultures, ongoing environmental destruction and the asymmetric structures that continue to shape land ownership power and recorded history. Kamuanga pays tribute to the strength of local communities endowing his larger-than-life figures with a poignant, contemplative stillness, while situating heritage as a terrain of resilience and survival. Alexis Peskine’s large-scale ‘portraits’ of people from the African Diaspora first begin as photographic portraits that are then transformed into remarkable sculptural pieces. Peskine’s recent works, delve into the transmission of healing powers inherent in ancestral African spirituality, exploring interiorised aspects of abundance and well-being. Peskine’s narratives draw upon an Afro-diasporic perspective, proposing ‘heritage’ not as a pre-determined legacy, but as something actively re-assembled through conscious selection of materials and methods of practice. This exhibition introduces photographic works by Djibril Dramé who weaves philosophically engaged yet poetic approaches to cultural memory together with contemporary African aesthetics. Dramé began his series Ndewendeul in 2010 as an exploration of the spiritual ethos of the Baye Fall Sufi brotherhood—an unorthodox yet powerful community within the larger Islamic world. While the project is rooted in his close relationship with his Sufi “brothers” and “sisters,” it also extends beyond them, inviting the presence of the “other” and opening a broader dialogue about community, identity, and belonging. These fours artists, using diverse media and dissimilar practices, illustrate productive approaches to navigating the disruptive transitions occurring as the cultural spaces they inhabit negotiate the impacts caused by contemporary global monoculture. Read more Toggle Sculpture Painting Photography