Biography
Otobong Nkanga works across a broad spectrum of mediums, including performance, installation, photography, drawing and sculpture, in order to explore ideas surrounding land and natural resources. She sometimes serves as the protagonist in her performances, videos and photographs, acting as a catalyst that sets the artistic process in motion.
Nkanga’s solo exhibitions include To Dig a Hole That Collapses Again, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2018); Wetin You Go Do?, The Tanks, Tate Modern, London (2017); The Encounter That Took a Part of Me, Nottingham Contemporary, UK (2016); Landversation Beirut, Beirut Art Center (2016); Diaoptasia, Tate Modern, London (2015); Bruises and Lustre, Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp (2015); Crumbling Through Powdery Air, Portikus, Frankfurt am Main (2015) and Tracing Confessions, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany (2015). Her work has been shown in group exhibitions at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, UK (2018); TextielMuseum, Tilburg, the Netherlands (2018); National Museum Cardiff (2018); Musée d'art moderne et d'art contemporain, Nice (2018); Documenta 14, Kassel and Athens (2017); Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (2017); Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp (2017); 11th Gwangju Biennale (2016); 20th Biennale of Sydney (2016); 13th Biennale de Lyon (2015); 31st Bienal Internacional de São Paulo (2014); Berlin Biennale 8 (2014); Ashkal Alwan, Beirut (2014); Sharjah Biennial 11 (2012) and Sharjah International Biennial 7 (2008), among others.
She participated in residencies at Berliner Künstlerprogramm des Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (2013–2014); Weltkulturen Museum, Frankfurt am Main (2011); Intituto Buena Bista, Curaçao Center for Contemporary Arts, Residency Program, the Netherland Antilles (2010) and Centre Culturel Français, Pointe-Noire, Congo (2009).
She completed Advanced Studies in the Performing Arts at DasArts, Amsterdam (2005–2008). Born in 1974 in Kanu, Nigeria, she is currently based in Antwerp.
SAF participation:
Sharjah Biennials 14, 11 and 7
Related Content
Sharjah Biennial 14
Sharjah Biennial 14: Leaving the Echo Chamber
Aging Ruins Dreaming Only to Recall the Hard Chisel from the Past (2019)
For SB14, Otobong Nkanga and Emeka Ogboh collaborate on a series of multimedia interventions in the heritage house Bait Al Aboudi and the surrounding grounds.
Kolanut Tales
Combining site-specific installation, photography and performance, Taste of a Stone: Itiat Esa Ufok is situated in the courtyard and two rooms of Bait Khalid Ibrahim, a historical site in Sharjah's Heritage Area.
Taste of a Stone: Itiat Esa Ufok
Performance with gravel, rocks, epiphytes and inkjet prints on limestone.
Sharjah Biennial 11: Re:emerge – Towards a New Cultural Cartography
This catalogue accompanied Sharjah Biennial 11.