Flow, group exhibition, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York (2008)
‍

Flow was a survey of new work by twenty emerging artists. These artists had either been born in Africa or to African parents, and they lived and worked across Africa, Europe, and North America. Coming of age after the mid-century movements for national liberation in Africa, this generation had witnessed shifts in political, economic, and social realities. Within this recent history, Africa was often illustrated in mass media and popular culture through images of warfare, disease, and poverty, as well as through celebrity fascination and philanthropic efforts. These representations often failed to articulate the complexities that produced this visual information. The artists presented here expressed their world through creative visions informed by these changes. Rather than understanding Africa as simply defined by a single position, they offered a multitude of perspectives—sometimes dissonant, at other moments in sync. The work they produced imagined an understanding of Africa that extended beyond geographic borders while remaining engaged with the contemporary realities of African peoples. In this way, the artists remained particularly conscious of continued foreign involvement on the African continent, as well as the persisting systems of racial classification established under colonialism.

Related:

Flow, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, 2008
The Studio Museum in Harlem

Home
About
Exhibitions
Essays
Press
CV

‍Christine Y. Kim © 2026. Site Credit: Common Space