In a collaboration between MAAT and the Embassy of Belgium and Wallonia-Brussels in Portugal, the closing of the Black Ancient Futures exhibition and the celebration of the Francophone Festival will take place on March 13 at MAAT, with a program highlighting the artist Baloji and the Afro-diasporic issues widely addressed in the exhibition. 

A Congolese artist living in Belgium and whose work includes visual arts, music, and cinema, Baloji features in the exhibition with his 2018 works Altar / Peau de Chagrin / Bleu de Nuit. The programme presented on this day of joint celebration begins with a screening of the film Augure from 2023, written and directed by the artist, followed by a Q&A session. Presented for the first time in a Portuguese institutional context, Baloji's film has received several nominations and awards at various international film festivals, including the New Voice Prize at the Cannes International Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard category and was Belgium's selection to represent it at the Oscars in 2024 in the Best Foreign Film category.

The programme also includes a DJ SET by DIDI, a founding member of Coletivo Afrontosas and UNA-União Negra das Artes, inspired by Baloji's musical and visual universe and promoting a festive atmosphere with a musical experience that celebrates the artist's multifaceted character and the artistic, geographical and thematic intersections that the exhibition has sought to bring together.

Programme

19.00 Screening of Augure (Generators room)

21.10–21.40 Q&A moment with Baloji

22.00–24.00 DJ SET DIDI

Duration: approx. 5 hours
Venue: MAAT Central (Generators)
Target audience: Over 14 years
Capacity: 150
Language: Film: FR, with PT subtitles. Q&A in EN, no translation available.
Price: € 15 | 25% discount for MAAT Friends
Meeting point: MAAT Central

Baloji (Democratic Republic of Congo, 1978) lives in Belgium, where he works in various fields. His work uses elements of Congolese culture, exploring the combination of its traditions with the languages of European avant-gardes. Contemporary global issues are approached through complex narratives centred around identity and its plurality. Baloji uses magical and oneiric realism to represent his vision about these intense themes more indirectly, allowing him to create work with a surrealist character. His work, whether in the form of music, film or other media, is renowned for its innovative use of African masks and symbolism, colours and sounds, linked by synaesthesia, to create stimulating and immersive narratives, for which he often calls on traditional African symbols together with modern and futuristic elements, associating the familiar with the extraordinary.

Di Candido aka DIDI is a phenomenon of cultural upheaval. A tireless worker and creator, like the bee - his spirit animal, DIDI is the founder of a series of collectives and events that centre black, queer and immigrant subjectivities. From the artistic collectives @afro__ntosas and @uniaonegradasartes to the party-platform @curvycurvs and the creative unit @bee_lx, his work is made in transit between Brazil, the UK, Portugal and Belgium. As a DJ, he brings a generous range of rhythms and club vibes rooted in Afro-diasporic music, from 90s/00s R&B to Afrobeat, house, Amapian and kuduro.