Shapeshifting Futures and Hidden Roots in Josèfa Ntjam’s Afrofuturist Cosmos
Revolutionary spirit pulses through Josèfa Ntjam’s art, where shimmering sculptures and surreal photomontages connect the dots between anti-colonial resistance in Cameroon and the fight for justice in the U.S. Her exhibition at Fotografiska New York, "Futuristic Ancestry," dives into family archives and history, layering images of Cameroonian revolutionaries with luminous, biomorphic forms.
Ntjam’s work blurs the boundaries between past and future, weaving Afrofuturist philosophy with science fiction and ancestral memory. In pieces like "Fire Next Time," tangled tree roots double as secret networks of resistance, echoing the hidden channels that fueled revolutions. Her immersive video, "Matter Gone Wild," imagines extraterrestrial rebels challenging colonial systems, each character embodying legendary figures of defiance.
Biology and mythology intertwine throughout her practice, from aquatic-inspired sculptures to AI-generated plankton hybrids. By merging poetic text, family history, and speculative worlds, Ntjam crafts new mythologies—inviting viewers to imagine futures shaped by both memory and possibility. In her universe, resistance is as much about transformation as remembrance.
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