PUBLIC EXHIBITiON BY MATY BIAYENDA: After Hours

We are happy to reveal the second edition of Nørrebro Teater’s public art programme. Opening on October 28 2026 through June 19 2027 and curated by Martha Kirzsenbaum. 

Programme for the opening

16.00: Exhibition opening

16.30: Opening speech by Director, Janne Villadsen

16.45: Talk between artist Maty Biayenda & curator Martha Kirszenbaum

The exhibition After Hours by Maty Biayenda is a series of site-specific flags which draw on personal and historical narratives, using a range of media including photography and illustration. Bieyenda’s practice reflects a profound engagement with themes of community, collective memory, and the multi-layered construction of Black female, queer, and transgender identities. Her process begins with exploring and assembling diverse archives – from intimate family photographs and historical documents relating to Black history to images gleaned from fashion magazines and iconic nightlife performers. Through her research into the objectification and liberation of Black female bodies and the deconstruction of fetishism, Biayenda compiles a rich visual archive of Afro-descendant and transgender presence. 

For the facade of Nørrebro Teater, Maty Biayenda translates her ongoing research around nightlife subcultures and forgotten stories into a compelling series of site-specific flags, and selected images for their power and the stories they embody. The front surfaces display a powerful tapestry of resilience – anchoring legendary performers like Rita Ester and Moldavia, ballroom figures, and anonymous faces, to women who faced tragic violence, such as Jessica Sarmiento, a trans sex worker assassinated outside of Paris. On the reverse, fragmented imagery converges around a transformational figure from Biayenda’s current auto-fictional graphic novel Sphinge Endormie (The Sleeping Sphinx). Here, the chimera emerges as a metaphor for hybrid, intersectional identities – standing at the intersection of myth, pop culture, and intimate experience to offer a vibrant and re-enchanted narrative of survival and resistance.

Extract of the exhibition text by Martha Kirzsenbaum.
Please read the full exhibition text here.