The photographs of Kiluanji Kia Henda (born in 1978 in Luanda, works in Luanda and Lisbon) interrogate the historic memory of Angola. After four centuries of colonial conflict and three decades of civil war, they strive to introduce into public debate new, “positive” conceptions of the country’s future. Angola declared independence in 1975, and during the war for independence Portuguese statues began to be removed from plinths in the squares in the centre of Luanda. By photographing his friends on the vacant plinths, the artist creates an image of a new, postcolonial society.
Kiluanji Kia Henda, Redefining the Power III, photographic printing on aluminium, 2011
