Curated by Sandrine Colard, An infinite woman examines the enduring legacy of the Mangbetu woman’s image, which became a widely circulated colonial emblem following Citroën’s 1925 La Croisière Noire expedition. Bringing together archival material and contemporary art, the exhibition traces how this image was transformed from an instrument of colonial propaganda into a site of artistic reclamation and resistance.
The exhibition unfolds in two acts: the first investigates the circulation of Mangbetu imagery through Western magazines, films, exhibitions, and other forms of mass media, where it became an “ethnographic fetish.” The second turns to artists of the African diaspora—including Raphaël Barontini and Lorraine O’Grady, as well as Sonia Barrett, Roméo Mivekannin, Faith Ringgold, Carrie Mae Weems, and others—who revisit colonial archives and images to challenge inherited narratives and construct new forms of representation and visibility.
Taking its subtitle from Saidiya Hartman’s Venus in Two Acts (2008), the exhibition foregrounds the resilience and boundless imagination of Black women in confronting colonial histories. By placing historical archives in dialogue with contemporary practices, An infinite woman questions the power these images continue to hold and proposes new ways of understanding, reclaiming, and reshaping the past.
Exhibition dates: November 28, 2026 – April 26, 2027
