This exhibition, presented at Tate Modern until 14th January 2024, celebrates the fascinating multi-faceted landscape of photography across the African continent today. Featuring the work of 36 artists from different generations and geographies, it showcases how photography and moving images have allowed artists to look at legacies of the past while imagining more hopeful futures.

Unfolding across seven thematic sections, the exhibition spotlights contemporary perspectives on cultural heritage, spirituality, urbanisation and climate change, revealing shared artistic visions that reclaim Africa’s histories and reimagine its place in the world.

Highlights include Rotimi Fani-Kayode’s vibrant works titled Bodies of Experience, 1989. The artist blazed a trail for queer African diasporic photographers with images—including self-portraits—that placed the artist’s sexuality and spirituality front and center.

Making skilled use of both documentary and conceptual practices, Cristina de Middel investigates photography’s ambiguous relationship to truth. While working as a photojournalist, de Middel’s passion for finding unconventional angles led to the acclaimed series The Afronauts. The project explores the story of an unsuccessful space program in Zambia in the 1960s, through staged reenactments of obscure events, shedding light on an often-overlooked history.