The True Size of Africa

Clocking in at over 500 pages, this is the thought-provoking catalogue of an exhibition of the same name held at World Heritage Site Völklinger Hütte, in Germany, from November 2024 to August 2025. Inspired by Kai Krause’s 2010 map-artwork, The True Size of Africa, which graphically demonstrates just how very large the continent is – much larger than it appears on most maps, for example – the exhibition and book serve as a timely reminder of the complexity of the African past, and its present too. Its contents are split into two main sections: the first is “Museum of Memorability”, which provides a broad cultural history of the continent, including a particularly inspiring set of images related to the Pan-Africanist movement. Secondly, “Artists and Installations” features a wide range of visual art as well as extracts from literary endeavours; among the highlights in this section are artworks by Omar Victor Diop, Carrie Mae Weems, and Kinshasa-based art collective Kongo Astronauts.