The March of the Heirs by Ibrahim Bemba Kébé
AS PART OF ARCOlisboa 2025, WAAU – WORLD AFRICAN ARTISTS UNITED, IN COLLABORATION WITH THIS IS NOT A WHITE CUBE, PRESENTS “THE MARCH OF THE HEIRS” BY MALIAN ARTIST IBRAHIM BEMBA KÉBÉ.
In critical engagement with the legacies of coloniality and the epistemic ruptures it entails, Ibrahim Bemba Kébé’s work interrogates the models of intergenerational transmission of memory, resistance, and identity across Malian, African, and diasporic contexts. His visual poetics reflect a nuanced negotiation with inherited violence and silenced genealogies, while simultaneously projecting futures anchored in ancestral legacy.
Situated within a decolonial framework, The March of the Heirs reveals the transformative potential of art to reclaim narrative space, rearticulate history, and activate transnational solidarities.
This spotlight on the work of Ibrahim Bemba Kébé reaffirms the shared commitment of THIS IS NOT A WHITE CUBE and WAAU – World African Artists United to amplify narratives rooted in the African continent and its diasporas within the global art circuit—challenging hegemonic perspectives and fostering a critical and plural cultural dialogue.
Visitors are invited to encounter this powerful affirmation of presence, history, and becoming at the WAAU booth during ARCOlisboa (at Cordoaria Nacional), as well as at the artist’s first solo exhibition When The Sky Split Open, on view until 1 August at THIS IS NOT A WHITE CUBE gallery in Chiado, Lisbon.
