Otobong Nkanga, born in Nigeria in 1974, currently lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium. Her art practice includes drawing, installation, textile work, photography, sculpture and performance. Nkanga explores the complexities of human influence and presence in nature and in the global economy. She follows the tracks of trade in raw materials, and how goods and people move in the world in different ways and on different premises. Nkanga is concerned with raw material production and how mining and other forms of extraction leave irreversible traces in the landscape. Her work sheds light on how production affects both people and nature, but also how dependent the world is on this circulation of goods. In Nkanga’s work, the theme is often given a poetic setting, where the titles are central to the understanding of the works. Full of literary, religious, and geological references, the titles reflect the complexity of her works of art.
Paulina Rider Wilhelmsen
Founder / Jury Member
Caroline Ugelstad
Jury Member
Tone Hansen
Jury Member
Michelle Kuo
Jury Member
María Inés Rodríguez
Jury Member
Elvira Dyangani Ose
Jury Member
“Uncertain Where the Next Wind Blows” is Nkanga's first exhibition in Norway and is curated by Tone Hansen and Karen Monica Reini at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter. The exhibition contains around 70 works and site-specific installations, where the oldest works are from 2003 and the newest from 2020. The exhibition premieres two new works, After We Are Gone (2020) and Revelations (2020), both tapestries. “After we are gone” was acquired by The Lise Wilhelmsen Fund, and Revelations by The Henie Onstad Collection.
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