Decolonial Perspectives: The curatorial project presented at FNB Art Joburg 2026

The Portuguese-Angolan visual artist Daniela Ribeiro develops a visual language situated within what she terms scientific surrealism. More than an aesthetic proposition, it constitutes a conceptual investigation that articulates the most disruptive technological advances of contemporary society with ancestral African cosmologies.

At the core of her practice lies an essential question: in what ways can emerging technologies — biotechnology, bionics, artificial intelligence, quantum physics — enter into dialogue with millennia-old knowledge systems and African epistemological traditions? In addressing themes such as transhumanism, Ribeiro moves beyond futuristic speculation to examine the ethical, philosophical, and cultural implications of these transformations. Her dual cultural heritage functions not merely as an identity framework but as a critical apparatus that guides and deepens her visual thinking.

Within her compositions, ancestral symbols, ritual markings, and cosmogonic references coexist with algorithms, bionic prostheses, molecular structures, and quantum visualisations. This convergence is not merely formal; it constitutes an epistemological gesture that challenges hierarchies of knowledge. By bringing these realms into proximity, the artist proposes that the holistic understanding of interconnectedness among all beings — central to many African traditions — offers essential tools for navigating the ethical dilemmas of the technological present.

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