Contemporary Artists Reclaim Colonial Photography in Museum Rietberg ExhibitioN
The exhibition A Kind of Paradise at Museum Rietberg brings together 20 contemporary artists from the diaspora who revisit colonial-era photography through a critical, present-day lens, among them Raphaël Barontini. The show examines how historical images—often tied to systems of power, race, and class—can be reinterpreted and reclaimed to reveal overlooked narratives and reshape collective memory. Across the exhibition, artists engage photography as both material and subject, transforming it into a tool for questioning dominant histories and asserting new forms of identity.
Organized into four thematic sections—Shapeshifters, Confrontation, Care, and In the Photo Fantastic—the exhibition moves from experimental reworkings of archival images to direct engagements with the legacy of colonization, and finally toward more speculative and restorative approaches that reimagine history. Barontini appears in the final sections, where the focus shifts to rewriting oppressive narratives. His presentation centers on elevating Congolese women as heroic figures, using his signature textile-based, collage-driven practice to challenge colonial representations and propose empowering, alternative histories.
Excerpted text written for Hypebeast.
