‚My practice started as a form of self-therapy where I just wanted to create this little fantasy world where there are only black people. I wanted black people to feel seen so I consider my practice to be a love letter to the Black body.’
Bode is delighted to announce the opening of the exhibition ‘Furaha, my world has become richer ever since you’ve shown me yours’, Bahati Simoen’s first solo exhibition at the gallery. In the pictorial worlds of her canvases and works on paper, Simoens weaves characteristics of Afrofuturism with defining influences of US American (pop) culture on the cultures of Africa.
There is something mythical and fantastical to the creatures and figures in Simoens' works; they seem to have emerged from calm yet abstract dream worlds. As naturally as the animal creatures in “Mineanda (Gone)” (2025) or “Quoi encore?” (2025) occupy the pictorial spaces of the canvases, they radiate a deep sense of serenity. They appear otherworldly, evoking an idea of a journey through foreign spheres, carrying their reclining riders. They move through worlds of rich green and yellow tones, coming to a halt in front of a black, nocturnal landscape to rest. With her painterly precision, Simoens contrasts the uncertain mysticism of the scenes, whose plot remains open. Questions arise about the beginning, end and purpose of the journey, whether the women are resting peacefully on the backs of the animal creatures or have collapsed on them from weakness, just like questions about the formal play with proportions.
This interaction with proportion can be observed not only in the two fable scenes, but also on the remaining three canvases and three works on paper in the exhibition. With large, powerfully rendered depictions of bodies, the artist exaggerates the presence of Black bodies both physically, spiritually and emotionally, placing them at the centre of the picture planes. With the small, barely recognisable heads of the figures, on the other hand, she suggests not losing oneself in one's own thoughts, but using the mind as an intelligent and powerful tool. Whether in the midst of colourful flower meadows, in dimly lit forest clearings or against the unpainted background of the drawings on black paper, the works lack neither sensitivity nor delicate details, despite the oversized nature of the bodies. The barely clothed or naked women move intuitively through the space, holding delicate bouquets of flowers in their hands or allowing tiny birds to land on them.
With ‘Furaha, my world has become richer ever since you’ve shown me yours’, Bahati Simoens creates a poetic topography of Black identity in which she addresses questions of visibility, physicality and cultural belonging.
Bahati Simoens (born 1992) is a Belgian-Congolese artist. Born in Munanira (Burundi) and raised on the Belgian coast in Ostend, she was only exposed to African culture to a limited extent. Finding voices and role models with whom she could identify has been a constant search.
Her work has been shown in solo exhibitions at BKhz (Johannesburg, South Africa), Jac Forbes (Malibu, USA), Botho Space (Cape Town, South Africa), Medium Tings (New York, USA), La Causa Galeria (Madrid, Spain) and in group exhibitions at N Gallery Collection (Seongnam-si, South Korea), Microcosmos (Seongnam-si, South Korea), Ebony / Curated (Cape Town, SA), NBB Gallery (Berlin, GER).
Bahati Simoens lives and works in Johannesburg.