Tic-Tac, time goes on in tune. hurry, from now on we must be constellation, intangible, neither transparent nor translucent, but overflowing
[…] They, we, you, I, no pronoun can hold us.
Josèfa Ntjam, I am nameless, 2020
Josèfa Ntjam is an artist, performer and writer
whose practice combines sculpture, photomontage,
film and sound. Gleaning the raw material of her work
from the internet, books on natural sciences and
photographic archives, Ntjam uses assemblage – of
images, words, sounds, and stories – as a method
to deconstruct the grand narratives underlying hegemonic discourses on origin, identity and race. Her work weaves multiple narratives drawn from investigations into historical events, scientific functions and philosophical concepts, to which she confronts references to African mythology, ancestral rituals, religious symbolism and science-fiction. These apparently heterogeneous discourses and iconographies are marshalled together in an effort to re-appropriate History while speculating on not-yet-determined space-times – interstitial worlds where systems of perception and naming of fixed (id)entities no longer operate. From there, Ntjam composes utopian cartographies and ontological fictions in which technological fantasy, intergalactic voyages and hypothetical underwater civilizations become the matrix for a practice of emancipation that promotes the emergence of inclusive, processual and resilient communities.
Josèfa Ntjam was born in 1992 in Metz, France, and currently lives and works in Saint-Étienne, France. She studied in Amiens, France, Dakar, Senegal (Cheikh Anta Diop University) and graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure d’Art, Bourges, France (2015), and the École Nationale Supérieure d’Art, Paris-Cergy, France (2017).
to deconstruct the grand narratives underlying hegemonic discourses on origin, identity and race. Her work weaves multiple narratives drawn from investigations into historical events, scientific functions and philosophical concepts, to which she confronts references to African mythology, ancestral rituals, religious symbolism and science-fiction. These apparently heterogeneous discourses and iconographies are marshalled together in an effort to re-appropriate History while speculating on not-yet-determined space-times – interstitial worlds where systems of perception and naming of fixed (id)entities no longer operate. From there, Ntjam composes utopian cartographies and ontological fictions in which technological fantasy, intergalactic voyages and hypothetical underwater civilizations become the matrix for a practice of emancipation that promotes the emergence of inclusive, processual and resilient communities.
Josèfa Ntjam was born in 1992 in Metz, France, and currently lives and works in Saint-Étienne, France. She studied in Amiens, France, Dakar, Senegal (Cheikh Anta Diop University) and graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure d’Art, Bourges, France (2015), and the École Nationale Supérieure d’Art, Paris-Cergy, France (2017).
Ntjam’s solo and duo exhibitions include swell of spæc(i)es,
in Collateral events of the Biennale Arte of Venise 2024,
LAS Foundation, Berlin, DE (2024); une cosmogonie
des océans, LVMH Métiers d’Art, Paris, FR (2024);
Futuristic Ancestry: Warping Matter and Space-time(s),
Fotografiska, New York, US (2024); matter gone wild,
Fondation Pernod-Ricard, Paris, FR (2023); Limestone
memories – Un maquis sous les étoiles, NıCOLETTı,
London, UK (2023); A Dobradiça biennale, Mação,
Portugal (2023); When the moon dreamed of the ocean,
FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology),
Liverpool, UK (2022-23); Les Portes du possible. Art
& science-fiction, Centre Pompidou Metz, FR (2022); Underground Resistance – Living Memories, The Photographer’s Gallery, London, UK (2022); and we’ll kill them with love..., CAC La Traverse, Alfortville, FR (2022); Molecular Genealogies, NıCOLETTı, London, UK (2021); and Allegoria, duo show with Kaeto Sweeney, Hordaland Art Center, Bergen, NO (2019).
Ntjam’s work and performances have been shown
in international museums and institutions, including LVMH Métiers d’Arts, Paris, FR; FORMA, London
UK; Lafayette Anticipations, Paris, FR; Fotografiska, New York, US; Fondation d’entreprise Pernod-Ricard, Paris, FR; Barbican Center, London, UK; Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL; Palais de Tokyo, Paris, FR; Musée d’art moderne
et contemporain MAMC+, Saint-Étienne, FR; WIELS, Brussels, BE; MUCEM, Marseille, FR; Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, PT; Africamuseum, Tervuren, BE; Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, US; Radius CCA, Delft, NL; Frac Nouvelle-Aquitaine MECA, Bordeaux, FR; MuCAT – Musée des Cultures Contemporaines Adama Toungara, Abidjan, IC; Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario, CA; MAMA, Rotterdam, NE; 15th Biennale de Lyon, MAC Lyon, Lyon, FR; and Arnolfini, Bristol, UK.
Her upcoming projects include a solo show and group show at 40m3, Rennes, FR (2024); Museum de Fundatie Zwolle, NL (2024); 15th Gwangju Biennale, KR (2024); Festival Jeu de Paume, FR (2025); Fotografiska Berlin,
DE, Fotografiska Stockholm, SE, Fotografiska Tallinn,EE (2025-26); CRAC Occitanie, FR (2025). 130
Ntjam is a member of Paris-based art & research collective Black(s) to the Future: blackstothefuture.com
Ntjam’s work is part of a number of private and public collections, including MAMC+, FR; Cnap, FR; Fond
d’art contemporain – Paris Collection, FR; IAC; LAS Foundation, DE; Fondation LVMH, FR; Fondation H,
MG; Fondation Villa Datris, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, FR; European Investment Bank Institute (EIB), Luxembourg, LU; Artothèque de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, FR; Fonds d’art contemporain – Paris Collections, FR; FRAC MECA Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Bordeaux, FR; FRAC Auvergne; FRAC Alsace, Sélestat, FR; Fondation Villa Datris, L’Isle- sur-la-Sorgue, FR; EIB Institute, Luxembourg, LU; and Artothèque de Strasbourg, FR.
& science-fiction, Centre Pompidou Metz, FR (2022); Underground Resistance – Living Memories, The Photographer’s Gallery, London, UK (2022); and we’ll kill them with love..., CAC La Traverse, Alfortville, FR (2022); Molecular Genealogies, NıCOLETTı, London, UK (2021); and Allegoria, duo show with Kaeto Sweeney, Hordaland Art Center, Bergen, NO (2019).
Ntjam’s work and performances have been shown
in international museums and institutions, including LVMH Métiers d’Arts, Paris, FR; FORMA, London
UK; Lafayette Anticipations, Paris, FR; Fotografiska, New York, US; Fondation d’entreprise Pernod-Ricard, Paris, FR; Barbican Center, London, UK; Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL; Palais de Tokyo, Paris, FR; Musée d’art moderne
et contemporain MAMC+, Saint-Étienne, FR; WIELS, Brussels, BE; MUCEM, Marseille, FR; Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, PT; Africamuseum, Tervuren, BE; Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, US; Radius CCA, Delft, NL; Frac Nouvelle-Aquitaine MECA, Bordeaux, FR; MuCAT – Musée des Cultures Contemporaines Adama Toungara, Abidjan, IC; Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario, CA; MAMA, Rotterdam, NE; 15th Biennale de Lyon, MAC Lyon, Lyon, FR; and Arnolfini, Bristol, UK.
Her upcoming projects include a solo show and group show at 40m3, Rennes, FR (2024); Museum de Fundatie Zwolle, NL (2024); 15th Gwangju Biennale, KR (2024); Festival Jeu de Paume, FR (2025); Fotografiska Berlin,
DE, Fotografiska Stockholm, SE, Fotografiska Tallinn,EE (2025-26); CRAC Occitanie, FR (2025). 130
Ntjam is a member of Paris-based art & research collective Black(s) to the Future: blackstothefuture.com
Ntjam’s work is part of a number of private and public collections, including MAMC+, FR; Cnap, FR; Fond
d’art contemporain – Paris Collection, FR; IAC; LAS Foundation, DE; Fondation LVMH, FR; Fondation H,
MG; Fondation Villa Datris, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, FR; European Investment Bank Institute (EIB), Luxembourg, LU; Artothèque de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, FR; Fonds d’art contemporain – Paris Collections, FR; FRAC MECA Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Bordeaux, FR; FRAC Auvergne; FRAC Alsace, Sélestat, FR; Fondation Villa Datris, L’Isle- sur-la-Sorgue, FR; EIB Institute, Luxembourg, LU; and Artothèque de Strasbourg, FR.