“The Body in Society” explores how identity is shaped through isolation, proximity, and interaction among figures depicted in groups or individually. These artists are concerned with the human form as an avenue for expressing the intersections and ruptures between privately and socially constructed identities. As humans, we interact with one another through speaking, listening, and touching. This engagement with the world is underscored in the concept of ubuntu, found in different societies on the African continent, which foregrounds the idea that the self is defined only in terms of relationships with others, and these relations foster individual well-being. Ibrahima Thiam, Péju Alatise, and Neo Matloga are among the artists in this section.

These works examine artists’ production strategies of using their own bodies as the primary medium. Artists in this section devise poetics of improvisation to expose or ameliorate perilous states of being using the intersecting techniques of performance, photography, sculpture, animation, and painting. Through choreographed poses captured in photography and rendered in montage and collage, Lebohang Kganye, Collin Sekajugo, and Nana Yaw Oduro connect art to social interactions, narratives, and lived experiences in their respective locations. Here, the presence of the artist’s body in their work is an act of self-definition.

Artists draw on more than the body’s physical manifestation to represent the human figure. They depict the body through accessories (like clothing and prayer beads) and accouterments (such as furniture and language), prompting the viewer to form a mental image of the body. The artists in this section suggest the body’s presence using techniques as varied as the themes they explore: fabrication, assemblage, printmaking, painting, and ceramics. The artists included, such as El Loko, Barthélémy Toguo, and Immy Mali, encourage us to imagine the world’s messy and redeeming features by subsuming the body.