Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen welcomes composer Neo Muyanga

From the 1st of April 2023, the South African composer and artist Neo Muyanga will be present at Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen every Saturday. For two months, the composer explores, researches and rehearses with a group of vocalists and musicians from Rotterdam. The final presentation of his project is scheduled for June, with a performance at Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen.

In his work, Muyanga fuses elements of new opera, jazz improvisation and songs in Zulu and Sotho. His work involves themes like humanity and the African diaspora and fear of exclusion and exploitation.

The residence of Neo Muyanga is the first milestone of the new international program Le Miroir Vivant. This multi-year project challenges artists to connect their own art and origins to different disciplines and thus create new and exciting work. The central point is the search for stimulating and socially relevant connections between the museum collection and the world beyond. Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen is the eye of the hurricane: that's where it all takes place. This project is made possible in part by the Ammodo Foundation.

Neo Muyanga

Neo Muyanga is a composer, musician, artist and philosopher. He grew up in Soweto, near Johannesburg, in the midst of fierce student protests. Soweto is the birthplace of the South African protest song. Muyanga's recent work has everything to do with a search for its history and a deepening of the phenomenon. As a student of Physics, Muyanga came into contact with classical music in the 1990s. Since then he has worked in many fields and has gained international praise. In 2021 he created the opera How ANANSI freed the stories of the world for Dutch National Opera & Ballet.

Le Miroir Vivant

Le Miroir Vivant is the new international guest program of Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen. The depot is not an art history museum. It is a lively place, where work in progress is the common thread and there is always something happening. Visitors get an unique insight into art restoration,  art conservation and artistic research. The Le Miroir Vivant program has been developed from this philosophy. The curators of this program are Annemartine van Kesteren (Design) and Francesco Stocchi (Modern and Contemporary Art). The project is made possible in part by the Ammodo Foundation.