Kapwani Kiwanga

Research-based, thema­ti­cally highly topical, and future-oriented—these terms can be used to describe the impres­sive work of Kapwani Kiwanga (b. 1978). From September 16, 2023 to January 7, 2024, the Kunst­mu­seum Wolfsburg will present the first compre­hen­sive mid-career retro­spec­tive of the Canadian and French artist, who has recently received numerous inter­na­tional awards. Kiwanga’s expansive works come together in the exhibi­tion to create a unique aesthetic, insightful, and physical experience.

Kapwani Kiwanga under­stands to entice visually and to touch the viewer with the thematic content of her work. She uses the power of color, light, and material to narrate global histories from new perspec­tives. Delicate ornamental plants hold toxic power, colors unfold manipu­la­tive effects, and light is unmasked as a political instru­ment. As a graduate anthro­po­lo­gist and compa­ra­tive religion scholar, she has the academic background for her socially analytic practice.

With her so-called exit strate­gies, Kapwani Kiwanga searches for a vocabu­lary to look at existing struc­tures and power relations from a new angle and to think about them differ­ently in the future. Her instal­la­tions, paintings, sculp­tures, works on paper, and photo­graphs, as well as her sound and video works and lecture perfor­mances, thus contain a histo­rical-political dimension that only becomes apparent at second glance. Kiwanga breaks the visual pleasure of her works in terms of content, ampli­fying their effect and giving them a lasting impact. In doing so, she shakes the founda­tions of our cultural socia­liz­a­tion. She refines our sense of “hidden” social mecha­nisms, struc­tural injus­tices, as well as global and everyday power asymme­tries. In a poetic way, Kapwani Kiwanga surveys and expands our social horizon.

The exhibi­tion is accom­pa­nied by a compre­hen­sive publi­ca­tion (German / English) with instal­la­tion views of the exhibi­tion, archival material, a conver­sa­tion between Cecilia Alemani and Kapwani Kiwanga, and essays by Julie Pellegrin and Uta Ruhkamp. Available for € 39 in the museum shop. 

Curator
Uta Ruhkamp

Curato­rial Assistants
Dino Steinhof and Veronika Mehlhart