Curated by Tumelo Mosaka, this landmark exhibition reimagines African art and diasporic aesthetics through play, fantasy, and critical dialogue.
Robert Pruitt, A Fantastic Saga Through Space and Time, 2021. © Robert Pruitt. Courtesy Collection of Pamela Thomas Graham. Africa, Dan, Mask (19th–20th century). Europe, Cycladic, Head and neck of figure (Period: Cycladic II, Spedos variety). Oceania, Vanuatu, Pentecost Island mask (18th-19th century). Africa, Baule, Mask (19th–20th century). Photo: Bonnie Morrison
Opened on May 1 and running until December 31, 2025, ‘Between Distance and Desire: African Diasporic Perspectives’ brings together contemporary voices and historic objects to reframe how African art is seen, remembered, and reimagined today. Presented at the Soloviev Foundation Gallery in New York, the exhibition is curated by Tumelo Mosaka and features eight contemporary artists in conversation with works from the Foundation’s collection.
At its core, the exhibition challenges the colonial frameworks that have long shaped the display of African art. Instead of presenting objects as static artefacts of “tradition,” ‘Between Distance and Desire’ introduces them into a dynamic conversation with contemporary works that speak to the complexities of Black aesthetics in the present moment. Through modes of play, fantasy, and reconfiguration, the show invites audiences to reflect on histories of displacement while imagining futures defined by agency and possibility.
Reframing the archive
The Soloviev Foundation’s collection of African masks and sculptures—spanning Bamana, Baule, Dan, Djimini, Dogon, Ekoi, Fang, Guro, Kota, Lega, Luba, Songye, and We-Wobe traditions—takes on new life within Mosaka’s curatorial approach. Instead of being displayed in isolation, a group of masks is presented collectively, allowing them to “speak” to each other, to the viewer, and to the issues of our time.
Another striking intervention sees a series of objects left inside their shipping crates, drawing attention to the overlooked afterlives of African artworks when they are stored, moved, and handled as commodities. By refusing the neutrality of museum display, the exhibition exposes the systems through which African objects have been circulated, archived, and consumed.
Contemporary voices in dialogue
Alongside these historic works are significant contributions by contemporary artists Edson Chagas, Kim Dacres, vanessa german, Eblin Grueso, Emmanuel Massillon, Zizipho Poswa, Robert Pruitt, and Nyugen E. Smith. Their works stretch across painting, sculpture, assemblage, and performance, blending materials and references from diverse geographies and histories.
Together, these artists create a space of “syncretic grandeur,” in Mosaka’s words, where fragments of past and present intermingle to question urbanisation, gender inequality, environmental crises, and the lingering impacts of colonialism. Chagas’s photographic portraits, for example, reimagine everyday gestures of presence and visibility. Poswa’s monumental ceramics, meanwhile, assert the power of African womanhood and ancestral knowledge.
By layering these practices with traditional African art, ‘Between Distance and Desire’ insists on seeing Africa not as a static origin but as a living, global force shaping aesthetics, politics, and culture across time.
Curatorial vision
Mosaka, an independent curator and Mellon Arts Project Director with the African American and Diaspora Studies program at Columbia University, has long explored transnational artistic practices across Africa, the Caribbean, and North America. His vision for the exhibition is rooted in rethinking inherited histories:
“This show is not about closing narratives but about opening them up—about creating a space where African objects and contemporary works are not bound by fixed meanings but allowed to breathe, converse, and even contradict one another.”
This curatorial approach transforms the gallery into a site of dialogue, one that resists easy resolutions and instead leans into complexity, speculation, and reimagining.
A living conversation
The exhibition also underscores the Soloviev Foundation Gallery’s broader commitment to supporting critical and global perspectives in contemporary art. Located on the ground floor of the Soloviev Group’s tower at 9 West 57th Street, the gallery is both an intimate space and a public platform, offering guided tours and open hours for audiences to engage directly with the works on view.
For Stefan Soloviev, principal of the Soloviev Foundation and chairman of the Soloviev Group, the show reflects a broader mission:
“The Soloviev Foundation Gallery is dedicated to fostering dialogue that challenges historical narratives and encourages a deeper understanding of global artistic practices, particularly those rooted in the African diaspora.”
With its blend of historical works, contemporary interventions, and curatorial experimentation, ‘Between Distance and Desire’ is not only an exhibition but also a meditation on the role of art in shaping identity, memory, and belonging.
‘Between Distance and Desire: African Diasporic Perspectives’ is on view at the Soloviev Foundation Gallery, New York, until December 31, 2025. For more information and to reserve tickets, visit solovievfoundation.org.
