Kapwani Kiwanga

Crockery, 2023

In a sequence of quilt works created out of cotton treated with pigment and saltwater from the Atlantic Ocean, Kiwanga extends the intangible components of her narrative compositions, continuing her investigation into the transatlantic slave trade. For the artist, the sea is an archive and witness of violent pasts. The cloth works combine and materialise her analysis of forced movement and liberatory strategies. Kiwanga’s use of symbols on the textiles allude to the safe houses along the Underground Railroad, often indicated by a quilt hanging from a clothesline or windowsill as a mode of communication. The geometric shapes function as conceptual coordinates of flight, escape and safety —by reading the motifs sewn into the design, a person fleeing slavery could assess immediate dangers.