NÉNÉ is an artist based in Rotterdam. Her paintings, installations, and spatial explorations are inspired by her interest in Afrofuturism. This philosophy and art movement offer her new perspectives on how African history emerged before the colonial past and continues to flow through the present.

In her work, NÉNÉ is interested in how people move within structures. She reflects on how present-day questions are shaped by colonial systems. Systems that are so layered and normalized that they often become invisible and block our vision. Within her practice, she explores whether and how it is possible to step out of these structures, to move freely, and when that freedom is not accessible, how we can still communicate, connect, and coexist within those same structures.

During the ‘Black Box’ residency of MOMO, NÉNÉ explores current developments surrounding anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in parts of Africa. This research is rooted in her time in Ghana, where she traveled to engage with textile practices and symbols as living forms of knowledge, storytelling, and resistance. From this place, she works in close collaboration with visual and fashion artists from Ghana, Neal and Kwasi, to create a wearable artwork that allows self-expression and resistance through hidden codes embedded in textiles. These garments become a language; holding stories, identities, and gestures of protest that can exist, move, and connect within restrictive systems.

The Black Box Residency is an annual program of MOMO Festival in which an artist is given space to research, experiment, and develop new work, with the creative process visible and accessible to the public.