Manifesta purposely strives to keep its distance from what are often seen as the dominant centres of artistic production, instead seeking fresh and fertile terrain for the mapping of a new cultural topography.
Manifesta 6 was cancelled by the President of the Greek Part of Cyprus
Agnes Essonti Luque, CM/ES
Chef Mbixi , 2016 - 2023 © Agnes Essonti Luque. Photo © Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana / Ivan Erofeev.
Agnes Essonti Luque is a Cameroonian-Spanish artist and curator whose practice is inspired by postcolonial and Black feminist thinkers as well as themes of ancestral connection, her own childhood memories, story-telling and nostalgia. Her body of work encompasses numerous mediums, including lens-based media, textile, installation and performance. For the past few years, she has been exploring the construction of Afro-diasporic identities, especially in the Spanish context. She’s interested in the process of layering, hybridation and pidginisation, seeing her own work as the possibility to re-imagine both history and her personal memories. Essonti's work has been shown in different national and international exhibitions, including Foodscapes, the Spanish Pavilion at the 18th edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale (2023). She presented her performances Bayam Sellam at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum and La Bissaperie at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.