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National Museum of African Art - Smithsonian Institution

Purgatory


Dimitri Fagbohoun b. 1972, Benin Refrigerium 2014 Wood confessional, broom, book, screws, ceramic objects, electroluminescent paper, frame, inverter, video with sound (5 min. 38 sec.) 210 x 240 x 95 cm (82 5/8 x 94 1/2 x 37 3/8 in.) Collection of the artist

Dimitri Fagbohoun
b. 1972, Benin
Refrigerium
2014
Wood confessional, broom, book, screws, ceramic objects, electroluminescent paper, frame, inverter, video with sound
(5 min. 38 sec.)
210 x 240 x 95 cm
(82 5/8 x 94 1/2 x 37 3/8 in.)
Collection of the artist
Photograph by Axel Schneider
©Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt

Edson Chagas b. 1977, Angola From Tipo Pass series 2012 C-prints Framed: 105.4 x 85.7 cm (41 1/2 x 33 3/4 in.) Collection of the artist, courtesy A Palazzo Gallery, Brescia, ItalyEdson Chagas
b. 1977, Angola
From Oikonomos, Luanda series
2011
C-prints
Framed, each 105.4 x 105.4 cm (41 1/2 x 41 1/2 in.)
Collection of the artist, courtesy A Palazzo Gallery, Brescia, Italy
Photograph courtesy A Palazzo Gallery, Brescia, Italy
View more from the series
Kiluanji Kia Henda b. 1979, Angola Othello’s Fate series Act I 2013 Inkjet print on matte paper mounted on aluminum Each: 110 x 170 cm (43 1/4 x 66 7/8 in.) Courtesy Nuno de Lima Pimentel Collection, Galleria Fonti, Naples, and Galeria Filomena Soares, Lisbon

Kiluanji Kia Henda
b. 1979, Angola
Othello’s Fate series (detail, one of five photographs)
2013
Inkjet print on matte paper mounted on aluminum
Each: 110 x 170 cm (43 1/4 x 66 7/8 in.)
Courtesy Nuno de Lima Pimentel Collection, Galleria Fonti, Naples, and Galeria Filomena Soares, Lisbon
Photograph courtesy Nino de Lima Pimentel Collection
View the entire series of five

Ato Malinda b. 1981, Kenya On fait ensemble (We Do Together) 2010 Single-channel HD video with sound (10 min. 46 sec.) Collection of the artist

Ato Malinda
b. 1981, Kenya
On fait ensemble (We Do Together)
(video still)
2010
Single-channel HD video with sound
(10 min. 46 sec.)
Collection of the artist
Photograph courtesy the artist

Maurice Pefura b. 1967, France The Silent Way Beatrice 2013 Acrylic, polystyrene, glue, tar, nails 180 x 70 cm (70 7/8 x 27 1/2 in.) Collection of the artist

Maurice Pefura
b. 1967, France
The Silent Way Beatrice
2013
Acrylic, polystyrene, glue, tar, nails
180 x 70 cm (70 7/8 x 27 1/2 in.)
Collection of the artist
Photograph by Franko Khoury

Hassan Musa b. 1951, Sudan Les clés du paradis (The Keys of Paradise) 2010 Assembled fabric, ink Each: 212.1 x 116.8 cm (83 1/2 x 46 in.) Collection of the artist

Hassan Musa
b. 1951, Sudan
Les clés du paradis (The Keys of Paradise)
2010
Assembled fabric, ink
Each: 212.1 x 116.8 cm (83 1/2 x 46 in.)
Collection of the artist
Photograph by Axel Schneider
©Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt

Purgatory, like a staircase, is the space one crosses on the way to somewhere else, for better or for worse. For some artists in The Divine Comedy exhibition, purgatory is connected to the condition of immigrants who may not yet feel at home in their new land. For others, purgatory can be a desert or river, a surface upon which we leave little imprint. It can also be found in the slow-motion moments before a tragedy occurs. Ideas of purgatory can speak to more personal conditions, such as wounds that heal but never quite go away, or to the choices humans make each day: will we let money enrich us or corrupt us? Purgatory is like the color red, the color of bloodshed in the giving and taking of life. It is a state of longing, a place in between.