Summary
Still the Rhythm is an installation by sculptor and spoken word artist Dieex Bitegets. The work enters into dialogue with AFROPEA’s permanent exhibition, deepening the reflection on layered identities, multiple perspectives, and individual stories.
The exhibition brings together two bodies of work: A Cycle Game (2024–2025) and Expressies door het ondergrondse heen (2021-2023). Together, they trace a trajectory of introspection, encounter, and connection. Under the title Still the Rhythm, the works form a single continuous narrative in which rhythm stands for repetition, memory, transformation, and continuity.
A Cycle Game comprises three brightly coloured plaster sculptures created following a research visit to the AfricaMuseum in 2024. The encounter with the collections and archives left a profound mark: sorrow and mistrust mingle with discovery and hope.The works reflect on how the colonial past continues to resonate today, and question how this legacy can be rethought and transformed.
The second part, Expressies door het ondergrondse heen (Expressions through Meditations), consists of ten bronze sculptures emerging from intuition and inner movement. The titles of the works as well as the accompanying poetry collection appear in Dutch, English, Lingala, and Swahili. This multilingualism reflects the layered world in which the artist moves, and the continual shaping of his multiple identities.
AFROPEA is a space for dialogue and encounter within the AfricaMuseum’s permanent display, developed in close cooperation with members of the African diaspora in Belgium. It combines a permanent presentation on Afro descendant communities in Belgium with an annually changing installation by a maker, thinker, or artist. The permanent display tells the story of people of African origin from the sub-Saharan region and Afro descendant communities in Belgium since the sixteenth century - their presence, contributions, and role in society. The name of the gallery pays tribute to the album Adventures in Afropea 1 by the Belgian-Congolese group Zap Mama.
