Presentation and opening of “Otobong Nkanga. Craving for Southern Light”

You are invited to accompany us at the presentation, followed by the opening, of Otobong Nkanga. Craving for Southern Light.

In the conversation, the artist Otobong Nkanga and the exhibition curator and director of the IVAM, Nuria Enguita, will offer some of the keys to this specific programme for the museum’s Galeria 1.

Using sculpture, drawing and performance, as well as writing and educational formats, Otobong Nkanga (Kano, Nigeria, 1974), analyses the notion of “earth” as a geological and discursive formation. As a starting point, her work is often based on systems and procedures used to locally excavate raw materials, technologically process them, and globally distribute them. From there, she follows the threads that link together minerals, material culture and the construction of desire with the redistribution of power and knowledge.

This monographic exhibition of Nkanga’s work includes drawings, installations, photographs, sculptures and performances in which the artist examines our social and topographical relationship with our everyday surroundings. By exploring the notion of earth as a place of non-belonging, Nkanga offers an alternative meaning to social ideas of identity. She also explores the inherent complexities of natural resources and their potential values as a way of sparking narratives and histories that relate to the earth.

19.00 presentation / conversation

20.00 opening and performance: “Constellation to Appease”. Later, Oumoukala from Okro Fam will offer a music session in the IVAM entrance hall.