HISTORY AS POSSIBILITY:
Reclaiming the past
Redrawing the present
Reimagining the future
HISTORY AS POSSIBILITY:
Reclaiming the past
Redrawing the present
Reimagining the future
FNB Art Joburg
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CURATORIAL STATEMENT:
THEB E IKAL AFEN G
Africa has always been the table at which the world feasted, yet too often we have not been invited to it.
Between 1884/85, in Berlin and beyond, others carved our borders, named our lands, and scripted our destinies without us, nor our permission. For more than a century, we have lived with maps that made us smaller, institutions that kept us divided, and narratives that cast us as subjects rather than authors.
The Africa Re-Union is our response.
It is a gathering of voices across generations, including Kwame Nkrumah, Wangari Maathai, Nelson Mandela, Chimamanda Adichie, Leopold Senghor, Muammar Gaddafi, Dambisa Moyo, Zulaikha Patel, and countless others — seated side by side as equals. It’s a gathering not to lament what was lost, but a declaration of what we can be – and will never again surrender. The empty chair, central and unoccupied, is not an absence but a provocation. It asks: What will you bring to Africa’s table? It reminds us that this continent’s story will not be completed by those already seated; it will be authored by those who choose to rise and claim their place. In that way the Africa Re-Union is not a conclusion; it is an invitation to the unborn, the exiled, the diaspora and the present African, to gather, to speak, to build, and declare, with unflinching clarity: Africa is whole again.
This is not a return to the 1884/5 table. It’s a seat at our own tableAfrican and egalitarian. It is Africa on its own terms: To reimagine our borders, reclaim our stories, and take our rightful place at the table of humanity. It is not an exhibition. It is a manifesto and vision of an Africa that is whole, sovereign and free.
The Africa Re-Union is not an exhibition. It is far more than paint on canvas; it is a manifesto made visual, a cartographic correction, and a living call to agency. It is a living movement. It is Africa’s reclamation of its borders, its narrative, and its right to define itself.
The Africa Re-Union reframes art as a covenant rather than a commentary. It is not another lamentation of loss, but an affirmation of becoming. It moves beyond the backward gaze of critique and nostalgia, a shift in perception from victimhood to authorship, from imposed borders to chosen bonds, into a forward momentum of imagination
and agency. The work stands as a reclamation and re-contexualisation of African identity. The inversion of the map is not merely an artistic device, but a philosophical statement, for Africa is no longer marginalised, but is the centre from which new futures radiate.
It’s a bold and necessary foundation towards achieving the ideals of Agenda 2063 for an Africa that is integrated, peaceful, and prosperous – and a better Africa for a better world.
This work emerges at a critical juncture in our continental journey. As Africa enters a new era of self-definition, for the first time hosting the G20 Summit, while advancing Agenda 2063, and forging and managing diverse alliances and relationships.
By including this work in the UNISA Art Collection, the Africa Re-Union is not just an image, but a movement, an engagement, and invitation for scholars, students, and visitors to confront history, participate in shaping the present, and imagine Africa’s future. It is a tool for learning and unlearning, for dialogue across disciplines and generations.
I am eternally grateful to Mark Modimola, the principal artist, who has been on every step of this journey as my co-creator from concept to delivery of the African Reunion since 2020, Professor Prah for bringing a deep historical perspective to the work; the partnership and support of the Johannesburg Art Gallery [JAG], the FNB Joburg Art Fair and Brand Leadership to bring it alive.
Thebe Ikalafeng Conceptual Author and Chief Curator
REALIZING THE AFRICAN RENAISSANCE THROUGH
COL LABOR ATION
LABOR ATION
Brand Africa (www.brand.africa) is a brand-led movement to inspire a renaissance of African identity, image, and competitiveness. Since its founding in 2010, it has championed the role of brands as carriers of culture and catalysts of development, telling Africa’s story not through deficit and despair, but through the creativity, enterprise, and excellence of its people and institutions. Today, Brand Africa is recognised across the continent and beyond for its pioneering research-led advocacy on how brands shape perception, unlock value, and connect Africa to itself and the world.
"Msafiri, from the Swahili word for “traveller” or “journey,” is a cultural platform committed to reclaiming Africa’s majesty, authenticity, and creativity. Msafiri celebrates the continent’s heritage and imagination through art, storytelling, and design. More than movement across space, Msafiri is a journey across time remembering what was dismembered, reimagining borders, and reconnecting citizens and travellers, local and global, to the rhythm and authentic spirit of Africa. Its mission is to celebrate Africa’s richness, create bold new cultural expressions, and showcase works that affirm Africa’s rightful place in the world.
Brand Africa and Msafiri were founded by pan-African thinker and traveller, Thebe Ikalafeng (www.ikalafeng.africa), who has visited every country in Africa and every continent in the world, with a lifelong dedication to advancing Africa’s brand-led renaissance.
The Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG), one of Africa’s most significant art museums, has long been a custodian of heritage and expression since its founding in 1915. Home to one of the largest art collections in subSaharan Africa, JAG has stood at the heart of South Africa’s artistic landscape for over a century.
In this new chapter, as it reshapes its identity, JAG affirms the centrality of art in Africa’s unfolding story of freedom, renewal, and creativity. Falling within the City of Johannesburg’s Arts, Culture and Heritage Department, JAG’s collaboration with Brand Africa and Msafiri reflects its vision: to see African art embody Africa not as a place of struggle, but as a rising giant in all spheres of human endeavour. Through such partnerships, JAG is reasserting the power of art to connect, to heal, and to shape Africa’s future.
“This is itself an important moment to inspire a new perspective to the decolonial discourse where it matters—to construct a table of power that will direct our efforts, resources, and attention to the pertinent realities of the continent, and away from the vortex of nothingness that so often traps conversations about Africa. It is a contribution to a bigger movement to drive the Re-Union of Africa,”
- Vuyisile Mshudulu, Director, City of Johannesburg Arts, Culture and Heritage Department
"“The Africa Re-Union reminds us that Africa’s voice is strongest when it speaks in unity and on its own terms. As South Africa prepares to host the G20, this work is a powerful symbol of our collective responsibility to reimagine the continent not as divided, but as a force shaping global progress. It affirms the vision of a Better Africa in a Better World ” - an Africa that draws from its past to inspire a more just, inclusive, and prosperous future for all,"
Brand South Africa
THE AFRICA RE-UNION CONTEXT
Between 1884 and 1885, the United States of America and Europe convened a series of meetings, from the International Meridian Conference (1884, Washington DC) to the infamous Berlin Conference (1884–1885).
Although Africa was too vast to be understood, too diverse to be reduced, borders were carved by foreign rulers and pens defined by economic interests and conquests. Names were imposed, territories fragmented, and economies re-engineered for extraction. The consequence: a continent left to inherit an identity largely imagined, recreated and ordered by others.
In the decades that followed, Africans began to resist, reclaim and reimagine. In 1900, the first Pan-African Conference was held in London, convened by Henry Sylvester Williams, and it seeded the dream of unity. Accra’s All-African Peoples’ Conference in 1958 gathered liberation leaders. Britain’s emissary Harold Macmillan’s “winds of change” in 1960 ushered in the withdrawal of Imperial Europe’s colonial attachment to Africa. In 1963, Addis Ababa saw the birth of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), planting institutional roots for continental solidarity. Later NEPAD (2001), the renaming of the OAU to the African Union (2002), Agenda 2063 (2013), and the AfCFTA (2018) were milestones that sought to transform shared aspirations into reality.
Yet, through these gatherings and blueprints, Africa has too often remained framed by colonial inheritances - the same borders, many of the same names, the same extractive economic logic. Countless declarations, conferences, and agreements - many deeply important – have mostly ended up being about lamentations more than genuine economic, political and social liberation. Even in the arts, reflections on the Scramble for Africa, such as Yinka Shonibare’s provocative “Scramble for Africa” installation at the Smithsonian, looked back in critique rather than forward in construction, reminding us of our fractures and failures, and not necessarily pointing to a way forward.
THE AFRICA RE-UNION CONTEXT
Similarly, while much of the intellectual output on Africa has been framed in a backward gaze, volumes that lament rather than liberate; there have been voices that demand more. In Against Decolonisation: Taking African Agency Seriously (2022), philosopher Olúfémi Táíwò argues that Africa must move beyond nostalgia and victimhood, insisting on the power of agency and creation in the present. Similarly, works on contemporary leaders such as IBRAHIM TRAORÉ: The Revolutionary Leader Who Reshaped Burkina Faso’s Political Landscape celebrate Africans who reject imposed scripts and chart sovereign futures. These books remind us that agency, not apology, are Africa’s way forward.
Long before them, many Africans thinkers laid the foundations for reclaiming our identity and culture. Credo Mutwa’s Indaba, My Children re-centred African spirituality and oral tradition as valid sources of knowledge and belonging. Léopold Sédar Senghor, through Négritude, insisted that African values and aesthetics were not primitive, but profound contributions to global civilisation. Cheikh Anta Diop restored Africa to its rightful place in history, demonstrating that as demonstrated by ancient Egypt, that African civilisation was foundational to human progress. Together, they provided intellectual scaffolding to an Africa determined not merely to resist but to remember what had been dismembered.
KEY TIMELINES OF AFRICAN EVENTS
These histories and events remind us that Africa has always been more than the sum of its imposed borders or borrowed names. The task now is not only to remember what was broken, but to author what is to come.
The Africa Re-Union does not dwell on lamentation; it offers a covenant of imagination. It insists that the next chapter of Africa’s story will not be written in Berlin, Washington or London, but around Africa’s own table, in Africa’s own voice.
AFRICA RE-UNION
We are the children of this soil Heirs of kings and queens, Descendants of rebels and revolutionaries, griots and guardians.
We gather not to re-enact the banquet of conquest and division. Not to beg, borrow or blame.
We set our table as equals, forged in freedom,
No longer victims of History, but agents of our future.
Not just to re-member what was dismembered.
Not only to speak of what we have lost.
But to declare what we must now build, what we must become, and what we will never again allow to be broken.
Let it echo across the world:
From Cape to Cairo, From the streets of Accra to the shores of Zanzibar,
from the North Pole to the South Pole.
To every child unborn, and every ancestor who came before us.
Africa is whole again.
We are not the borders that divide us: We are the binds that unite uswe are the drumbeat of our ancestors, and the dream of our descendants.
We rise as one. We our own stories. We own our future.
- Made of Africa.
- Made in Africa.
- Made for Africa.
This time . . .
- No one will define us. But us.
- No one will name us. But us.
- No one will save us. But us.
We reclaim our power with purpose. To bring Africa back together
- Spiritually
- Politically
- Economically
- Culturally
On our terms.
We come free as equals:
- Listening
- Speaking
- Shaping
- Making
This is not a moment. It’s a movement. This is not a conference. It’s a covenant. This is not a dream. It’s a declaration.
We are the Africa of our imagination –whole, sovereign and free.
THE WORK
AFRICA RE-UNION (2025)
3.0M X 2.13M ACRYLIC AND CHARCOAL ON CANVAS
Artwork by Mark Modimola (Artist).
Conceived, curated and co-created with Thebe Ikalafeng (Chief Curator & Conceptual Author)
ARTISTIC STATEMENT
This monumental canvas presents Africa inverted, as both a metaphor and a provocation. Freed from colonial cartography and reoriented, it demands a new perspective, and a call on us to reimagine and reassert Africa’s position in the world.
Rendered without borders and aligned to the Equal Earth projection, it restores Africa’s true scale, stature and significance, challenging centuries of distortion that relegated it to the periphery of the world’s imagination and sought to diminish it.
No longer relegated or diminished, Africa stands upright: whole, sovereign, and free.
By erasing colonial boundaries, the canvas returns Africa to its natural truth: not as fragments cut by foreign hands, but as a living geography held together by rivers, mountains, and the shared humanity of its people. Its inversion is an invitation to unlearn, to reimagine - to see Africa not as peripheral, but as central, vast, and sovereign.
By erasing colonial boundaries, the canvas returns Africa to its natural truth: not as fragments cut by foreign handas, but as a living geography held together by rivers, mountains, and the shared humanity of its people. Its inversion is an invitation to unlearn, to reimagine—to see Africa not as peripheral, but as central, vast, and sovereign.
In the African Re-Union works, Modimola and Ikalafeng revisit the infamous 1884/85 Berlin Conference, where Africa was divided into colonial possessions. But here, the table is round, African, and equal. Seated around it are reimagined voices of Africa and her diaspora— activists, thinkers, artists, feminists, freed slaves, political leaders, and spiritual guides—engaged in a covenant of conversation about the continent’s name, its orientation, and its rightful place in the world. Is it Afriquia, Alkebulan, or Afrika?
At the centre of the composition is a hollowed circle, symbolic of a hearth, with the inverted map of Africa rising like a flame. In many African cultures, the fireplace - accompanied by the act of gathering around it- embodies unity, warmth, community, and the transmission of knowledge.
It is where stories are told, wisdom is shared, and ancestral memory is invoked. Around the fire, families and communities break bread, sing, dance, and weave the tales that bind them together. This flame illuminates the truth that what unites Africa is far greater than what divides it. The round table, affirms that here, all voices are equal, not opponents, but co-authors of destiny.
The gathering draws from Zulaikha Patel’s youthful defiance, Kenneth Kaunda and Julius Nyerere’s liberation ideals, Amílcar Cabral’s unfinished struggle, and Miriam Makeba’s anthems that once shook the United Nations. It carries Wangari Maathai’s ecological vision, the PanAfrican dream of Nkrumah, Selassie, and Gaddafi, and the diaspora’s enduring voices—from Sojourner Truth and W.E.B. Du Bois to Dambisa Moyo. It invokes Senghor’s Negritude, Credo Mutwa’s Indaba My Children, Cheikh Anta Diop’s The African Origin of Civilization, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s warnings against the “single story.”
By placing them at the table, the work insists that Africa has always had a face. Too often the continent has been reduced to faceless numbers, statistics, or lines on maps. But history is lived through people - the griots, revolutionaries, visionaries, elders, and youth - who carried Africa’s struggles, dreams, and imagination forward. Their presence affirms that Africa’s story has never been without authors, only without recognition.
And yet questions remain: Is the table exhaustive or merely emblematic? Who has been left out, and why? What does absence say as loudly as presence? Can a business thinker sit alongside the liberator, the sage and the poet? And if not here, then where?
The empty chair at the centre is a reminder that the continent’s story will not be completed only by those already seated. It is an open covenant, a call to every African to step into history, to listen, to speak, to create – and take their rightful seat at the table. It is an open seat for the ancestor whose spirit hovers, the enslaved who longed to return, the diaspora who seeks to remain rooted, the unborn who will inherit the future, and the present African who must rise to take a seat at the table and contribute to Africa’s future. It symbolises continuity, responsibility, and an unfinished story that belongs to us all.
The sacred ibis glides into the circle. With its white body, black head and neck, and curved bill, the ibis - long a guardian of Africa’s sacred spaces - appears as an emissary of change. A symbol of adaptability and wisdom, it bears the covenant of a reimagined Africa, protecting its memory while guiding it into a future unbroken, luminous, and renewed.
Executed in layers of washes and glazes, the work shimmers with luminous tones, warm hues set against cool accents of blue and green, harmonising with the rich textures of African skin. The combination of dry brushwork and broad strokes lends a tactile intimacy, while the warm wooden frame deepens the sense of homecoming and belonging.
The Africa Re-Union reminds us that it is possible to move forward, not only beyond the legacy of 1884, but into the promise of Africa’s own making. It is a reminder that our destiny is not to be decided elsewhere, but to be authored here, together. It is a new covenant of agency, sovereignty and imagination.
In a break with convention, the artwork is signed by both the artist and the conceptual author. What emerges is not indulgence but necessity. By co-signing it, the work collapses the old hierarchies between artist, curator, and strategist; exposing the hidden scaffolding on which the art world already rests. By elevating narrative and branding as the central media, it expands the definition of art to include the forces that shape how Africa is seen and remembered. With the conceptual author—a branding authority rooted in Africa and renowned convenor of brand-led agenda —stepping into this space unapologetically, it proposes the African author of the future: not only the painter or poet, but also the builder, the brander, the strategist. It insists that Africa’s future may be carried not only by liberation fighters, writers, or artists, but also by those working within capital to reframe narratives, mobilize change, and dare to tell Africa’s story on its own terms.
By elevating narrative above form, it insists that Africa’s most outstanding art is the telling of its own story. This is less an exhibition than a rupture, less an installation than a declaration - that narrative itself is the art, and Africa its rightful author.
In a timely co-incidence with the AU’s call for the world to correct the map of Africa, the Africa Re-Union goes further and shifts the urgency and agency.
It is not another artwork. It is an act of reclamation: Art as agency, history reimagined as possibility. Here, Africa takes her seat at her own table, not as fragmented states but as a whole diverse people; not as subjects of maps but as makers of meaning. This work insists that Africa is no longer defined by borders imposed, but by bonds chosen. It seeks to correct Africa’s provenance – not just in size that sought to minimize Africa’s magnitude or the colonial borders imposed by ink; but by rivers and ranges, united not by inherited names but by chosen bonds.
As AU Deputy Chair Selma Malika Haddadi put it, “It might seem to be just a map, but in reality, it is not,” She pointed out how the Africa that has been presented has shaped education, policy, and how Africans see themselves.
It is now time for a different, renewed Africa, viewed through its own lens and image – led by Africans, for Africa.
Here, Africa is not represented. Africa represents itself.
THE TABLE OF VOICES
Zuleika Patel
Amílcar Cabral
Wangari Maathai
Thebe Ikalafeng
Dambisa Moyo
Nelson Mandela
Credo Mutwa
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Julius Nyerere
Haile Selassie
Sojourner Truth
Thabo Mbeki
Kenneth Kaunda
Miriam Makeba
Kwame Nkrumah
Cheikh Anta Diop
Léopold Sédar Senghor
Muammar Gaddafi
W.E.B. Du Bois You
THE TABLE OF VOICES
1.Zuleikha Patel South African student activist who at age 13 led the #StopRacismAtPretoriaGirlsHigh protest (2016) when she was singled out for African hair, symbolising youth defiance and the fight for African identity.
2.Nelson Mandela Led South Africa’s liberation struggle; first democratic president (1994); symbol of reconciliation, justice, and pan-African dignity. A global statesman and moral authority.
3. Sojourner Truth African-American abolitionist and women’s rights activist; her voice bridges Africa and the diaspora, embodying resilience and truthtelling.
4. Miriam Makeba “Mama Africa,” global songstress and activist who used music to fight apartheid and represent African culture worldwide. First musician to address the United Nations in 1963. Exiled from South Africa and later exiled from the United States for her relationship with American Stokely Carmichael.
5. Léopold Sédar Senghor Senegalese poet-president; co-founder of Négritude, affirming African aesthetics and culture as equal to Europe’s intellectual traditions.
6. Wangari Maathai Kenyan environmentalist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate; founder of Green Belt Movement; championed women’s rights, ecology, and justice.
7. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Nigerian novelist and essayist; global feminist voice; reframed African narratives through literature and identity politics.
8. Amílcar Cabral Revolutionary leader of GuineaBissau and Cape Verde; theorist of liberation, culture as weapon, and African unity in anti-colonial struggle.
9. Credo Mutwa South African traditional healer and author (Indaba, My Children); preserved African cosmology, myth, and spiritual knowledge.
10. Thabo Mbeki South African president; architect of the African Renaissance; reorganised OAU into AU (2002); launched NEPAD for African-led development.
11. Kwame Nkrumah Ghana’s first president; champion of continental unity (Africa Must Unite); beacon of pan-African liberation and independence (1957).
12. Muammar Gaddafi Libyan leader; controversial but instrumental in pushing for AU creation; advocated for a “United States of Africa.”
13. Dambisa Moyo Zambian economist and author (Dead Aid); challenged dependency on aid and argued for African self-determination in economics. Now a Baroness in the British House of Lords.
14. Haile Selassie Ethiopian emperor; resisted fascist invasion (1936); founding father of OAU (1963); symbol of African sovereignty and Rastafarian icon.
15. Thebe Ikalafeng Pan-African brand strategist; founder of Brand Africa; advocate of a brand-led African Renaissance and cultural selfdefinition.
16. Julius Nyerere Tanzania’s first president; led Ujamaa socialism; championed Swahili as African lingua franca and liberation struggles across the continent.
17. Kenneth Kaunda Zambia’s first president; supported southern African liberation; promoted “Humanism” philosophy in governance.
18. Cheikh Anta Diop Senegalese historian and scientist; proved ancient Egypt’s African origins; restored Africa’s place at the centre of human civilisation.
19. W.E.B. Du Bois African-American intellectual; author of The Souls of Black Folk; early Pan-Africanist; moved to Ghana at Nkrumah’s invitation (1961).
20. Your seat at the table
AFRICA SPEAKING TO AFRICA
Within the Africa Re-Union exhibition, the central canvas is complemented by sculptures from Thokozani Madonsela and Siyabonga Mlambi, each extending the dialogue of identity, memory, and renewal into new dimensions.
Artwork by Thokozani Madonsela
Thokozani Madonsela is a South African muralist, painter, and printmaker whose work is instantly recognisable through his nude, faceless, often laughing figures. A graduate of Artist Proof Studio in Printmaking, Madonsela has exhibited widely, from the Absa L’Atelier and SA Taxi Foundation Art Awards in Johannesburg, to solo shows such as Love Protest (Soweto, 2020) and An Ode to Brave Souls (Ivory Coast, 2021). His work has also received international recognition, including selection as a Top 10 finalist at Artbox Barcelona. Moving fluidly between streets and galleries, his art bridges the intimacy of human gesture with the expansiveness of collective identity.
At the core of his practice lies a radical neutrality. By erasing the usual markers of gender, class, and age, Madonsela’s figures become universal mirrors through which anyone can recognise themselves— reflections of laughter, vulnerability, and resilience. They are not anonymous but profoundly human, inviting viewers into shared experiences of urban life, memory, and belonging.
Africa Speaking to Africa, originally a canvas, has been reimagined in three dimensions through a collaboration with sculptor Cassian Robbertze. Beginning in digital clay and refined by hand before being 3D-printed and painted, the sculpture expands Madonsela’s vision into physical space. Three figures lean into one another— mouths open, bodies relaxed— speaking, laughing, listening. At the centre, one holds Africa not as an abstract map but as a lived, held presence, embodying both vulnerability and responsibility. The work is playful yet profound. It insists that Africa’s future cannot be authored by external voices; the conversation must begin within. It is an invitation for Africa to hear itself—to laugh with itself, to heal itself, to claim its own story.
Placed in relation to the Africa Reunion works, Madonsela’s sculpture becomes an intimate counterpart. Where the Reunion reimagines the geopolitical table—who is seated, who is silenced—Africa Speaking to Africa turns to the everyday table: neighbours, kin, communities speaking directly to one another. Together, they affirm that liberation requires both—the grand stage of history and the small circles of listening where identity and destiny are forged.
Artwork
DEDICATION "
Instead of putting the original works of Africa ReUnion up for sale, Brand Africa and Msafiri have chosen to gift it to the UNISA Art Gallery. This is because the work belongs at the intersection of African intellect, art, and identity. It is not simply an exhibition — it is a covenant, a manifesto in form, spirit, and imagination. It deserves to be preserved and curated for future generations as a source of learning, pride, and inspiration.
As the largest university on the continent, UNISA is more than an academic institution. It is a symbol of access, thought leadership, and transformation. Its open doors mirror Africa’s open skies, welcoming learners from every corner of the continent and beyond. Within UNISA, the Art Gallery stands as its cultural heart: a place where heritage and imagination meet in brushstrokes, sculpture, and story. It is the ideal home for a work that seeks to reimagine Africa’s future by re-membering its past.
That the university’s Chancellor, President Thabo Mbeki, is the foremost champion of the African Renaissance further affirms this choice. His call for a rebirth of African pride, intellect, and unity resonates through this work, which gathers icons and ordinary voices alike to sit at the African table.
“Africa Re-Union is a significant addition to the UNISA Art Collection and reflects the spirit of African unity, creativity, and cultural pride that aligns with our institution’s vision to celebrate, preserve, and advance African heritage.
Africa Re-Union will not only enhance the aesthetic and intellectual depth of our collection but will also serve as an enduring resource for research, teaching, and public engagement for years to come,”
Tshegofatso Seoka, Curator: UNISA Art Gallery and Collection
MULTIDISCIPLINARY ACTIVATION
4 September 2025 | FNB Art Joburg
The activation is not simply a performance.
It is a ritual of remembrance and reclamation, transforming into a participatory covenant for Africa’s future.
1. The Call – Drums African drums summon the gathering, echoing ancestral councils and ceremonies. The drumbeat is the heartbeat of the continent, calling us to attention.
2. Creating Context – The Poetic Voice complemented with an Audio Visual
A prophetic voice narrates: the state of our history without Africa at the table, the long silences, the fragmentation. It frames why we are here: to remember, to re-claim, to re-build.
3. Deliberations – The Table of Africa
Actors usher Africa’s icons one by one to the table — Nkrumah, Maathai, Senghor, Mandela, Adichie, Cabral, and others — each announced with a line affirming their contribution: “Nkrumah: Africa must unite”; “Senghor: Négritude lives”; “Maathai: Plant trees, plant freedom.”
4. The Reveal – Africa at the Table
Chief Curator Thebe Ikalafeng steps in last and forward to unveil the central artwork: Africa at the Table. Africa is revealed not as divided, but whole; not diminished, but immense – in its right size and stature.
5. The Covenant – The Empty Chair
One seat is left unoccupied. It is explained: this chair is reserved for the unborn child, for the ancestor, and for every African alive today. It is an open invitation to sit, to listen, to speak, to shape – to join the conversation.
6. Post-Reveal – A Living Installation:
5 - 7 September
Overnight, the performance transforms into an installation. The table remains, now empty of people but not of presence. On it lie Nkrumah’s kente cloth, Selassie’s jacket, Nyerere’s baton, books by Cheikh Anta Diop, Credo Mutwa, and Senghor – and alongside them, empty notepads and pencils.
7. The Participation – The People’s Turn
The journey concludes as it began — with the people. Visitors are invited to sit at the table and write their vision of the Africa they want. A simple box awaits their notes — letters to the continent, messages to the future. These reflections will be gathered, shared across platforms, and carried into subsequent exhibitions, ultimately forming part of an expanded Manifesto for a different Africa.
THE AFRICA REUNION TEAM
CHIEF CURATOR AND CONCEPTUAL AUTHOR: THEBE IKALAFENG
Thebe Ikalafeng isn’t just a name in branding or Africa - he is a living philosophy. A voice. A movement. A mirror through which Africa sees its worth, tells its story, and reclaims its rightful place in the world.
A trailblazing, Hall of Fame global African and an unrelenting advocate for a brand-led African renaissance, his life’s work is rooted in reclaiming Africa’s identity, reshaping its narrative and affirming its global influence. Born in the diamond capital of the world - Kimberley, South Africa - with ancestral roots reaching into Botswana, and raised on values as enduring as the continent itself, Ikalafeng has walked with presidents and everyday Africans like him, climbed the world’s highest peaks, crossed every border on the African continent, and built brands that have defined a generation.
He carries Africa not only in his passport, but in his purpose. He is the founder of the consequential Brand Africa, and he’s been recognized with honorary doctorates by UNISA and University of Johannesburg, and named one of the 100 Most Influential Africans by New African magazine, 100 Most Reputable Africans by Global Reputation Forum and 100 most Creative People of African Descent by UN and MIPAD for his contributions to Africa and branding.
He has been to every country in Africa and every continent in the world. As TedXGhana once noted, “Thebe is Africa.”
PRINCIPAL ARTIST: MARK MODIMOLA
Mark Antony Modimola is a South African artist. After graduating with a BA (Hon) in information design at the University of Pretoria, he pursued a career in traditional design, before ultimately leaving Joe Public in 2016 to lecture at the University of Pretoria, and eventually to pursue visual art full-time.
His conceptual works across painting, digital art and drawing aim to explore the cadences of African identity today. Reflecting on society and being through topics such as history, culture and other social contexts, he examines how we can grow as people through incorporating nature into our sense of Self. He believes that nature is an integral part of who we are as people is reflected through his works.
He has exhibited in the USA, South Africa , Zimbabwe and Italy, and at RMB Latitudes Art Fair, African Futurism Unbound, Zeitz Mocca and Keys Art Mile; had residencies in SA, Zimbabwe and USA, and delivered commissions for, inter alia, American Express, Sanlam and Fred Hutch Institute.
ACADEMIC
AND HISTORICAL
ADVISOR:
PROF. KWESI DLS PRAH
Professor Kwesi DLS Prah is a Ghanaian–South African historian whose scholarship bridges Africa and the world, past and present. Based in the History Department at the University of South Africa (UNISA), his research explores the intersections of modern East Asian history and African economic history, with a particular focus on how patterns of colonialism and neocolonialism continue to shape Africa’s place in the global order.
He holds a PhD in History from East China Normal University in Shanghai, where he cultivated a comparative lens that situates Africa’s story within broader global struggles for sovereignty, modernity, and identity. His unique cross-continental perspective has enabled him to interrogate how Africa’s historical encounters with empire, trade, and ideology inform both its challenges and its possibilities today.
Professor Prah also serves as an Adjunct Research Associate at East China Normal University, extending his teaching and research collaborations into Asia. His work emphasises the need to reclaim African economic agency in the face of enduring structures of dependency, while grounding African unity in historical realities rather than abstract ideals.
As Chief Historical and Political Advisor to the African ReUnion, Professor Prah ensures that the project is anchored not only in symbolism and art, but also in the deep currents of African history from the Berlin Conference to the African Renaissance, from colonial partitions to contemporary calls for integration and sovereignty.
His scholarship and counsel affirm that the African ReUnion is not an isolated artistic gesture, but part of a long, unfinished struggle to define Africa on its own terms.
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER: AUBREY POO
Aubrey Poo is a South African actor, producer, singer, and creative entrepreneur known for his versatile performances across theatre, television, and film. Trained in dramatic arts at Tshwane University of Technology, Poo rose to prominence with leading roles in stage productions such as The Lion King, Rent, and Dreamgirls, where his vocal and acting prowess earned critical acclaim.
On television, he gained widespread recognition for his role as Pelo Mohale in the SABC3 drama Isidingo, and has since featured in series such as The Estate, Scandal!, Kings of Joburg, The River and Generations. With a passion for telling authentic African stories, Poo has also stepped behind the scenes as a producer and voice artist, contributing to the development of the South African creative industry.
An advocate for Pan-African excellence, creative ownership, and storytelling that affirms identity, Poo continues to use his platform to uplift emerging talent and shift narratives across the continent.
STYLIST AND WARDROBE:
SHELI MASONDO
Sheli Masondo is a global award-winning South African wardrobe stylist, costume designer, and creative visionary whose bold, fashion-forward storytelling has shaped some of the country’s most iconic screen and stage moments.
With an eye for detail and a deep understanding of character and culture, she has styled numerous high-profile television productions, films, and music videos, including work on The Wife, Blood Psalms, and Shaka iLembe, where her work has been praised for its authenticity, texture, and visual impact.
Masondo’s styling blends contemporary edge with deep cultural roots, often reimagining African aesthetics in ways that honour tradition while setting trends. Her ability to use fashion as a narrative tool has earned her industry accolades and made her a go-to name for productions seeking originality, elegance, and cultural depth. In 2024, Sheli won the Septimus Award for Best Costume design for ‘Shaka Ilembe.’
Beyond the screen, Sheli is a mentor and collaborator, committed to nurturing the next generation of African creatives and elevating the continent’s design language on the global stage.
DESIGN DIRECTOR:
DAVID HOLLAND
David Holland is a global South African branding and design Creative Director whose work sits at the crossroads of brand storytelling, cultural and organisaitonal identity, and contemporary design practice.
With a global portfolio, residencies and career that straddles London, Singapore, Tokyo and Africa-wide, he has over three decades of experience across branding, publishing, and exhibition design. Dave's work is not only visually striking but also strategically meaningful and organisationally resonant.
As Design Director of Africa Re-Union, he shapes the visual language of the projectfrom the exhibition environment to its publications, collateral, and digital presence. His design philosophy is rooted in clarity and distinction, ensuring that every element, whether a graphic motif, typeface, or spatial arrangement, reflects the brand voice with dignity and imagination.
Known for his ability to merge conceptual rigour with aesthetic precision, he positions design not as decoration but as a vessel for narrative, memory, and movement. In the Africa Re-Union, his role is pivotal: to ensure that the visual and spatial design embodies the spirit of the project - a reimagined Africa that is whole, sovereign, and free.
daveholland.design | invisibleforces.biz
CASTING: LINDIWE VILAKAZI
Lindiwe Vilakazi is an accomplished casting and production professional with extensive experience in South Africa’s leading television and film productions, including The River, The Republic, Adulting, and Champions.
With a background spanning roles in Production Manager and Casting Director at companies such as Tshedza Pictures, Stained Glass, and Naledi Films, she brings sharp creative judgment and organizational excellence to every project. For the African ReUnion activation, Lindiwe is responsible for casting - ensuring the right voices and faces embody the spirit of Africa’s icons at the table.
Photography - Tumelo Lerole, Blue Media
Media and Publicity – South Africa - Maria Macloy
Global - Eloine Barry, Africa Media Agency
African Business
Activation Coordination – NN Concepts and Brand Leadership Group
HISTORY AS POSSIBILITY:
Reclaiming the past
Redrawing the present
Reimagining the future