Kapwani KiwangaSisal #8, 2021
Kapwani Kiwanga is a Franco-Canadian artist based in Paris. Kiwanga’s work traces the pervasive impact of power asymmetries. Her work is research-driven, instigated by marginalised or forgotten histories, and articulated across a range of materials and mediums including sculpture, installation, photography, video, and performance.
Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg recently launched Kapwani Kiwanga’s first comprehensive mid-career retrospective, The Length of the Horizon until 7 January 2024. This show includes her memorable 2022 Venice Biennale installation ‘Terrarium’. The artist has been selected to represent Canada at their national pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale.
Kiwanga’s interest in the historical and symbolic affect of materials is demonstrated through the artist’s Sisal series - an arrangement of steelworks covered in sisal fibre. The golden spun fibre, harvested from the botanical plant agave sisalana, is typically used for rope and twine. Kiwanga first encountered sisal whilst travelling through rural Tanzania where this flowering plant is a primary export commodity. Fascinated by the fibre’s colour (yellow and gold) as well as the rhythmic rows of the crop, Kiwanga came to learn more about the plant in relation to Tanzania’s political, economic and social history.
