Madrid Museum Puts Picasso in Dialogue With “African Guernica”

Feature

Dumile Feni’s monumental drawing is featured in the Museo Reina Sofía’s latest initiative, “History Doesn’t Repeat Itself, but It Does Rhyme.”

Dumile Feni’s “African Guernica” (1967) is showcased in a new exhibit at the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, offering a fresh perspective on Picasso’s renowned anti-war piece. (© Estate Dumile Feni and Dumile Feni Family Trust; courtesy Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid)

MADRID — Measuring over 25 feet wide and 11 feet high, Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica” (1937) is not only monumental in scale but also in cultural importance. Its vivid portrayal of state violence against civilians has established it as a symbol of post-war Spanish identity, and its anti-violence message has resonated globally — from Vietnam to Gaza — for nearly 90 years. 

An annual exhibition series at the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, which has housed this iconic work permanently since 1992, now presents “Guernica” alongside other pieces. Titled History Doesn’t Repeat Itself, but It Does Rhyme, the program seeks to examine the universal political motivations behind Picasso’s anti-war masterpiece, while also confronting the pressing issue of race in contemporary Spanish art institutions.

The first exhibition pairs Picasso’s renowned painting with “African Guernica” (1967) by Dumile Feni, a South African artist. Feni’s large charcoal drawing conveys a similar sense of protest and despair. While Picasso’s work was a response to the April 26, 1937 bombing of Guernica by fascist forces during the Spanish Civil War, Feni’s “African Guernica” arose from the widespread and systemic racial violence of South African Apartheid.