Norwegian-born, Congolese-rooted artist Sandra Mujinga is one of the most talked-about names in the European art scene in recent years. Working across visual arts and music, Mujinga centers her practice on concepts like shadow, invisibility, technological bodies, and Afrofuturism.
The first thing that stands out in Mujinga’s work is the tension between light and darkness. Her spaces envelop the viewer, disrupting their sense of time with immersive atmospheres. Her three-channel video installation Pervasive Light, exhibited in recent years, has garnered significant attention for its aesthetic that fragments and renders bodies invisible. In it, bodies move like ghosts or silhouettes, evoking both a sense of presence and absence.
Afrofuturism is a vital thread in Mujinga’s work. She envisions the future while never forgetting the colonial experiences of the past, questioning the visibility of Black identity. Bodies in her work are often unrecognizable, appearing as mere shadows or glimmers of light. This points to both the burden of visibility and invisibility as a form of resistance.
Mujinga is also a musician and DJ, and sound plays a significant role in her art. The electronic music she incorporates in her exhibitions transforms the visual atmosphere into a more intense experience. Viewers don’t just see; they feel as if they’re immersed in a “frequency field.”
Her choice of materials and techniques is noteworthy: video projections, three-channel installations, digital prints, textile surfaces, and light manipulations that turn spaces into holistic experiences. These are all tools through which Mujinga reflects on the “politics of visibility.”
Critics often describe her art as existing somewhere between cyberpunk aesthetics and African ritualistic elements, creating a hybrid language that gestures toward both a dystopian future and the memory of ancient cultures.
Apartment No:26 Note
Engaging with Sandra Mujinga’s work is not just an artistic experience but also a window into today’s political and cultural discussions. Her works, which transform invisibility into an aesthetic strategy, remind us that “existing” is not always about being seen. For us, Mujinga is one of the most striking examples of 21st-century art because, in her world, shadow doesn’t compete with light—it becomes its most powerful storyteller.
