The work of Nigerian artist Otobong Nkanga is primarily concerned with social and topographical changes in her environment and thematically focuses on methods of regional extraction of raw materials, which are then technologically processed and distributed worldwide. In this way, she observes systematic exploitation, the focusing on material things and unequal power relations. These approaches are also reflected in the Otobong Nkanga exhibition organised by Kunsthaus Bregenz. On 23 October 2021, an exhibition landscape specially designed by Nkanga for the space will open there, dealing with the elements of earth and water and their indispensability for life and survival. Until 6 February 2022, among other things, a tapestry work will be presented that extends over the entire four floors of the Kunsthaus Bregenz. The exhibition was created in close cooperation with regional partners, including clay construction expert Martin Rauch, DORNIER GmbH in Lindau and the renowned TextielLab of the TextielMuseum in Tilburg.
Born in 1974 in Kano, Nigeria, the visual and performance artist Otobong Nkanga first studied art at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, and later at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. She followed this up with studies at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam before becoming a scholarship holder of the DAAD's Berlin Artists-in-Residence Programme in 2013. In 2015, Nkanga received the highly endowed Yanghyun Prize, and four years later she was awarded the Peter Weiss Prize. Her art has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp (2015) and Chicago (2018) and at the 58th Venice Art Biennale (2019), among others. In addition to performances, Nkanga makes tapestries, drawings, photographs, installations, and videos that explore the connections between people, the environment, and history.
