Otobong Nkanga: I Dreamt of You in Colours

The exhibition, curated by Odile Burluraux and Nicole Schweizer, offers a transversal view of Otobong Nkanga’s protean practice, spanning installations, photographs, and numerous drawings, including rarely shown early works. It traces recurrent themes such as mining, the circulation of resources, and the cultural values attached to natural materials, highlighting how these concerns are constantly reformulated. Iconic works are reactivated with new in situ elements, weaving connections between forms, substances, and ideas in a poetics of entanglement.

The display brings together pieces from major public and private collections – among them the CNAP in Paris, Castello di Rivoli, Stedelijk Museum, Fondation Beyeler, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, and Centre Pompidou – alongside works from the artist’s studio. The landmark piece From Where I Stand (2015), acquired by the Friends of the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris in 2022, is also included. Through these works, Nkanga explores intertwined histories of extraction and exploitation while gesturing towards alternative modes of relation and future imaginaries.