Fellowship

Fellow 2017/2018

Otobong Nkanga

Otobong Nkanga is a visual and performance artist whose practice explores the social and topographical changes of her environment. Through performance, drawing, photography, and installation, Nkanga examines how raw minerals are transported through covert economies and transformed into desirable consumables. Acting as a cultural anthropologist, Nkanga concentrates on specific elements of our surroundings in order to portray the ongoing challenges of (re)presenting environmental conditions. Within her imaginative and emotive installations and paintings, Nkanga opens up discussion on our connections with natural materials and resources, and their stimulating accounts. Her exhibitions have been at documenta 14, Kassel, 2017; Biennale de Lyon, Lyon, 2015; Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo, 2014; and Berlin Biennale, Berlin, 2014. Solo exhibitions include: Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, 2018; Kunsthal Aarhus, Aarhus, 2017; and Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, 2016. She received the BelgianArtPrize in 2017 and Yanghyun Prize in 2015. Nkanga lives and works in Antwerp.

Otobong Nkanga

Otobong Nkanga is a visual and performance artist whose practice explores the social and topographical changes of her environment. Through performance, drawing, photography, and installation, Nkanga examines how raw minerals are transported through covert economies and transformed into desirable consumables. Acting as a cultural anthropologist, Nkanga concentrates on specific elements of our surroundings in order to portray the ongoing challenges of (re)presenting environmental conditions. Within her imaginative and emotive installations and paintings, Nkanga opens up discussion on our connections with natural materials and resources, and their stimulating accounts. Her exhibitions have been at documenta 14, Kassel, 2017; Biennale de Lyon, Lyon, 2015; Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo, 2014; and Berlin Biennale, Berlin, 2014. Solo exhibitions include: Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, 2018; Kunsthal Aarhus, Aarhus, 2017; and Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, 2016. She received the BelgianArtPrize in 2017 and Yanghyun Prize in 2015. Nkanga lives and works in Antwerp.

Fellowship Research Trajectory

Mention for May you live in interesting times

BAK Fellow Otobong Nkanga was honored with the Special Mention Award, for her work May you live in interesting times, 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, 2019.

To Dig A Hole That Collapses Again

A survey exhibition of Otobong Nkanga’s works is presented for the first time in the US. The exhibition titled To Dig A Hole That Collapses Again opens at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Chicago from 31 March–9 September 2018.

Seminar with Andrea Phillips

As part of a session convened by 2017/2018 BAK Fellow Otobong Nkanga, educator and political organizer in the arts Andrea Phillips gave a seminar on her current research focus: reorienting contemporary art’s ecology toward producing more emancipatory forms of sharing—not simply about spatial sharing and inclusivity, but also at the level of wage labor.   […]

Related content

Charl Landvreugd Accepted to De Akademie van Kunsten

Congratulations to Charl landvreugd, who has been accepted to the Dutch Akademie van Kunsten! De Akademie aims to interpret the voice of the arts in Dutch society (including politics) and to promote interaction between the arts themselves, art and society, and between science and art. It annually elects new members based on demonstrable artistic achievements.  […]

Online Screening of Oleksiy Radynski’s Landslide and Interview with Grant Watson

BAK 2019/2020 Fellow Oleksiy Radynski’s film Landslide (2016) premieres online 26 August 2020 as part of the screening series From Matter to Data: Ecology of Infrastructures, 29 July–9 September 2020, Museum of Modern Art, New York. This series presents a selection of 15 films and video works available in three part. Radynski’s film is part of […]

Yara Sharif: Architecture of Resistance

As part of a session convened and moderated by 2017/2018 BAK Fellow Ola Hassanain, Yara Sharif gave a seminar (via Skype), discussing, in particular her text  “Cultivating spatial possibilities in Palestine: searching for sub/urban bridges in Beit Iksa, Jerusalem” (by Nasser Golzari and Yara Sharif); and more generally unpacking alternative means to re-read and redraw […]

Ola Hassanain Awarded Paulo Cunha e Silva Art Prize and Shows at Two International Architecture Exhibitions

BAK 2017/2018 Fellow Ola Hassanain was awarded a 2019/2020 Paulo Cunha e Silva Art Prize, and has work in the Sharjah Architecture Triennial Rights of Future Generations (2019–2020) and Chicago Architecture Biennial …And Other Such Stories (2019–2020) curated by Fellow BAK 2017/2018 Fellow Sepake Angiama. Congratulations to Ola on the opportunities!