Kapwani Kiwanga talks to Ben Luke about the cultural experiences that have shaped her life and work.
Kiwanga was born in Hamilton, Canada, in 1978 and lives in Paris. She works primarily in sculpture and installation but also with performance, sound and video. She explores what she has called “power asymmetries”, drawing from forgotten or unexpected histories and studies in everything from botany to sociology, to create enigmatic but alluring objects and environments in a wealth of materials.
Installation view of the exhibition Kapwani Kiwanga: Trinket (2024), Canada Pavilion, 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Commissioned by the National Gallery of Canada and supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. © Kapwani Kiwanga / Adagp Paris / CARCC Ottawa 2024. Photo: Valentina Mori
Research is at the heart of her project, but it triggers unique combinations of ideas, where forms that might initially appear entirely aesthetic and informed by Modernist geometries are in fact “documents” and “witnesses” to complex socio-political ideas and events. Materials are rarely selected simply for their visual effect; instead, Kiwanga chooses them for their historic, economic or cultural uses.
A remarkable economy and precision underpins her language, through which she maximises an acute experiential balance between pleasure, curiosity and disquiet. She reflects on her new work, Trinket, for the Canada Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale, about creating a welcoming space for viewers to explore complex histories and ideas, and about balancing seduction and disruption.
Kapwani Kiwanga's Terrarium (2022). Exhibition view, The Milk of Dreams: 59th Venice Biennale, Arsenale, Venice, 2022 Courtesy the artist and Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, Johannesburg, London / Galerie Poggi, Paris / Galerie Tanja Wagner, Berlin © Kapwani Kiwanga / Adagp, Paris, 2023. Photo: Sebas2ano Pellion di Persano
She reflects on the early influence of the Black Audio Film Collective and how her hanging curtains relate to Felix Gonzalez-Torres; she discusses the significance of residencies in Paris, at the Musée national d’Histoire naturelle, and in Dakar, Senegal; and she talks about why the jazz legend Sun Ra inspired her to make a work. Plus, she gives insight into her life in the studio and answers our usual questions, including: what is art for?
• Kapwani Kiwanga: Trinket, Canada Pavilion, 60th Venice Biennale, Italy, 20 April-24 November; Kapwani Kiwanga: The Length of the Horizon, Copenhagen Contemporary, Denmark, until 25 August.
Kapwani Kiwanga's Keyhole (2023) Exhibition view, Remediation, MOCA, Toronto, 2023 Courtesy the artist and Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, Johannesburg, London / Galerie Poggi, Paris / Galerie Tanja Wagner, Berlin © Kapwani Kiwanga / Adagp, Paris, 2023. Photo: Laura Findlay
This podcast is sponsored by Bloomberg Connects, the arts and culture app.
The free app offers access to a vast range of international cultural organisations through a single download, with new guides being added regularly. They include the 2024 Venice Biennale Arte, for which Bloomberg Connects is the official app. Download the app and you’ll see that the guide to the Venice Biennale includes an audio guide available in English and Italian, exploring the themes, sections and invited artists in Foreigners Everywhere, the international exhibition at the Biennale, organised by the Brazilian artistic director Adriano Pedrosa. You can also listen to an exclusive interview segment and vocal performance by members of the MAHKU Collective, read profiles of the two winners of the Golden Lions in this year’s exhibition, Anna Maria Maiolino and Ni Yalter, explore a full list of the national pavilions and exhibitions around Venice coinciding with the Biennale—the so-called collateral events—and much more.