As a series, In the Days of a Dark Safari combines historical research with artistic photography to reflect the ideals projected onto the image of a stuffed giant sable antelope (Palanca). In this series, the artist attempts to unveil a fictitious element of ‘official history’, showing that there are two sides to every narrative, but he is particularly critical of the position of the colonialist who ‘collects information in the forest and lays it out in museum display cases’. For Kia Henda, ‘the effort to create a Museum of Natural History is a process similar to the creation of hostile narratives from the perspective of the foreigner who colonises by maintaining distance, consigning an entire continent to a Place of Darkness.’

In so doing, Kia Henda turns his focus towards the dual ideas of colonialism and African dictatorships and how these converge on projections of Africa as ‘dark continent’ and ‘paradise lost’ respectively. Depicting various museological taxidermy animal dioramas, covered in black shrouds which might seem equal parts absurdist and apocalyptic, serves to draw attention to the staged theatricality of the dioramas. They are visual riffs on the colonial idea of darkness as per Joseph Conrad: an othering agent which allows separation, distance and a sense of moral justification for all manner of imposed douchebaggery. Overlaying these complex narratives in an effortlessly accessible and enjoyably absurd presentation, Kia Henda's series turns an incisive critical eye to the volatile muddles of the present with an optimistic glimpse towards a brighter decolonised future.

The Last Journey of the Dictator Mussunda N’Zombo Before the Great Extinction portrays the end of dictatorships in Africa, based on the persona of former president Mobutu Sese Seko, who is considered the archetype of African dictators. In the photographic series, the dead corpse of power undergoes taxidermy while animal-objects come to life. The series also plays with depicting safaris through ‘African scenery’.

Havemos de Voltar is part of a trilogy that approaches contemporary Angola and its violent past, which the country has attempted to brush over, in the rush to join the ranks of “successful” global nations.

Angola's complex history is seen through the eyes of a fake taxidermy sable antelope. She takes us on a journey that links colonial ideas from the past with contemporary reality. This short contemplation on the conservation of memory is a mix of static painted, staged histories, and a physical parade through the streets.

The video takes its title from a poem by Agostinho Neto, the country’s first president and one of its most prolific poets. Written in exile in a Lisbon prison, Neto’s text appeals to Angolans to find true independence and freedom by returning to their African traditions. A time-hopping travelogue between colonized, militarized and representational environments, Havemos de Voltar explores the seductive relationships between art, history and nostalgia.