(Mis)seeing in/as Contemporary Art: Kiluanji Kia Henda and the Afronauts

Since 2007 Kiluanji Kia Henda’s artworks have been shown extensively on the international art circuit and included in exhibitions from Guangzhou to São Paulo, from Luanda to Venice. By considering some notable art projects and exhibition experiences that have occurred in this compressed time span and these different locations, this essay addresses the young Angolan artist’s engagement with the perils and possibilities of art practice as it transverses multiple art worlds. Kia Henda’s artworks engage with the potential of mis-seeing, the visual equivalent of mistranslation, in cultural exchanges between Angola and the larger world.