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Feature Story by Elyssa Goodman  Invocation: Severance of Ties, Jim Chuchu, digital video (still), 2014 National Museum of African Art Smithsonian Magazine developed a feature story on the Here: Pride and Belonging in African Art exhibition in its opening month to the public. Goodman observes that "the story of this show began in 2022, when Kevin Dumouchelle, curator at the museum and co-curator of the exhibition, planned to do a book for the Smithsonian about LGBTQ+ African artists. He soon learned that the community he sought to chronicle was much more expansive than he initially thought, and he brought [Serubiri] Moses on to work with him. Beyond the opening of “Here,” the museum’s work continues with the Here Project, which aims to “give a platform to artists from these communities to tell their stories and represent their own experiences,” Dumouchelle says. Eventually, it will live as a book, with public programming presented alongside the exhibition. Dumouchelle’s research started with 15 artists...the project now includes more than 70.  Muholi Muholi, Parktown, Zanele Muholi, photograph, 2016 © Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of the artist, Yancey Richardson Gallery and Southern Guild "Dumouchelle visited Muholi in Cape Town," the writer adds, "and while the artist was happy to discuss their own participation in “Here,” they also introduced Dumouchelle to other artists, some of whom were Muholi’s students. “For Muholi, training new generations of artists is really key to their practice. We were actually able to acquire the work of five of those photographers and bring those into the project and the publication as well,” Dumouchelle says. “I love that generative moment of discovery being led by an artist in particular, and it reinforces their message that it’s not just about them; it’s about the community and continuing to tell that story.” “The fundamental thesis of the show is really quite basic … We are here, we exist and we have always existed, and ... we will continue to exist. That’s the message that the artists really wanted us to convey, above all else,” Dumouchelle says. “I think if we can provide a little space ourselves for that experience, for people to feel welcomed and to feel safe and seen and represented in that way, then that would be an incredible, incredible thing, too.”
Interview with The Art Newspaper's Ben Luke
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. this week opens Here: Pride and Belonging in African Art, a new exhibition focusing on LGBTQ+ artists from across Africa and its diaspora. Ben Luke talks to its co-curator, Kevin Dumouchelle, about the exhibition and forthcoming book.
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