Understanding China’s infrastructure activities in Africa through artistic practice and exhibition

The infrastructure-led development model initiated by China under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has faced domestic and international challenges. By focusing on a national travelling art exhibition featuring Chinese railway construction in Africa in 2023, this paper examines the role that curatorial and exhibition practices can play in (re)shaping public geopolitical understandings of China-Africa relations. Exhibiting over 200 artworks collected from both China and Africa, this art programme not only forms a nuanced, personal and storied narrative of China’s overseas development work in Africa but also tactically responds to current internal and external criticism of the Chinese government’s global ambitions channelled through the BRI. This work extends the ongoing interest geographers have at the intersection of the visual arts and critical geopolitics.