OTOBONG NKANGA

Born in Kano, Nigeria, in 1974, Nkanga studied at Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria, the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and completed her master’s in the Performing Arts at DasArts, Amsterdam, in 2008. She is based in Antwerp, Belgium.

In 2025, Nkanga was awarded the prestigious Nasher Prize, becoming the eighth recipient. The Nasher Sculpture Centre in Dallas concurrently presented her major solo exhibition, Each Seed a Body, which explored Texas history, ecology, and migration through new installations, sculpture, and poetry.

Early Years and Research Practice

Nkanga’s research-driven approach to contemporary art often involves fieldwork, collaboration, and deep engagement with the histories and geographies of specific places.

In 2015, Nkanga embarked on a field trip in Namibia, tracing the railway route from Swakopmund to Tsumeb. Almost entirely defunct, the line’s construction was completed in 1906 by the Otavi Mining and Railway Company (OMEG). Its path leads to what was once a mineral-rich area in Tsumeb, commonly known as the ‘Green Hill’. Extensive mining, however, has transformed the hill into a cavernous hole—a monument that speaks to human desire and the exploitation of natural resources. The sound recordings, video, photographs, performance documentation, interviews and images from the Namibian archives that Nkanga collected during her journey along the railway route acted as a catalyst for an array of projects and artworks, including a series of intensive workshops held at Frankfurt‘s Städelschule, where she was guest professor in 2015.

Out of her research came In Pursuit of Bling at the 8^th Berlin Biennale, followed by exhibitions at Kadist Art Foundation in Paris (Comot Your Eyes Make I Borrow You Mine, 27 September–20 December 2015), Portikus in Frankfurt (Crumbling Through Powdery Air, 16 July–6 September 2015), and M HKA in Antwerp (Bruises and Lustre, 14 October 2015–17 January 2016).

Otobong Artworks

Nkanga’s work explores the processes of extraction, corrosion, oxidation, and transformation of natural materials, often using these processes as metaphors for societal change. Her practice is collaborative and interdisciplinary, involving specialists and communities in the making of her art.

In Pursuit of Bling (2014) is centred on the natural mineral mica, whose name is Latin for ‘crumb’ but is thought to have derived from the Latin micare, which means ‘to glitter’. Nkanga’s artwork explores the various applications of mica after it has been processed, reflecting on the human desire to transform resources into commodities.

In Pursuit of Bling was later included in Nkanga’s first survey exhibition in the United States, held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in 2018 (To Dig a Hole That Collapses Again, 31 March–2 September 2018).

In an Ocula Conversation with Stephanie Bailey held in June 2018, Nkanga explains that the work ‘was not only about looking at that material sense of light, but also thinking about it in relation to spirituality and connection to a place, and how we can understand the notion of migration and displacement by thinking about a hole that displaces because of the removal of what it once contained. As the hole is made, the body is displaced.’

The processes of corrosion, oxidation and transformation of natural materials were explored by Nkanga in her commission for the 2017 Belgian Art Prize, which comprised four works, including In a Place Yet Unknown (2017)—a tapestry displaying a poem by Nkanga that slowly absorbed a liquid from a container placed at the bottom, using the rising stain as a way in which to think about the transformation processes that occur in society.

Carved to Flow (2017–ongoing):

Nkanga’s research-driven approach to contemporary art in some cases necessitates specialists or practitioners. Conceived for documenta 14, Carved to Flow (2017–ongoing) is composed of three ‘phases’: ‘the Laboratory’, ‘the Warehouse & Distribution’, and ‘the Germination’.

The first phase comprised of a site-specific installation in Athens that functioned as a soap-making factory, which saw Nkanga work alongside soap maker Evi Lachana to create soap, inviting participants to contribute to the process and add to the installation. Using natural ingredients such as olive and coconut oil, Nkanga unveiled the potential for soap as a medium ‘capable of expressing complex geographical, historical and affective entanglements.’ For the project’s third phase, the artist established The Carved to Flow Foundation, based in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, which aims to sustain the project’s initiatives and will be dedicated to fostering local shared experimentation and exchange.

Thematic Concerns

Nkanga’s art provokes narratives connected to land, memory, postcolonial history, and material culture. She investigates the politics and poetics of resources, raising questions about cultural inheritance, use, appropriation, and identity. Her works often incorporate poetry, sound, and performance, creating immersive environments that address both global and personal themes.

Awards and Accolades

• 2025 Nasher Prize Laureate (Dallas, USA)
• Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award (Norway, 2019)
• Peter Weiss Award (Bochum, 2019)
• Special Mention Award, 58th Venice Biennale (2019)
• Sharjah Biennial Award (2019)
• Flemish Cultural Award for Visual Arts - Ultima (Brussels, 2018)
• Belgian Art Prize (Brussels, 2017)
• 8th Yanghyun Art Prize (Seoul, 2015)

Nkanga’s first permanent UK commission for Art on the Underground at Nine Elms Underground station will launch in 2025.

Exhibitions

Otobong Nkanga has exhibited widely at major institutions and biennials worldwide.
Select solo and group exhibitions are referenced below.

Solo Exhibitions

• Each Seed a Body, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas (2025)
• Cadence, Museum of Modern Art, New York (2024–2025)
• We Come from Fire and Return to Fire, Lisson Gallery, London (2024)
• Craving for Southern Light, IVAM Centre Julio González, Valencia (2023)
• Gently Basking in Debris, Frist Art Museum, Nashville (2023)
• Underneath the Shade We Lay Grounded, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges (2022)
• Of Cords Curling Around Mountains, Castello di Rivoli, Rivoli-Torino (2021–2022)
• Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria (2021–2022)
• When Looking Across the Sea, do you Dream?, Villa Arson, Nice (2021)
• Uncertain Where the Next Wind Blows, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Norway (2020–2021)

Group Exhibitions

Nkanga’s work has been included in the 58th Venice Biennale (2019), Sharjah Biennial 14 (2019), documenta 14 (2017), and major exhibitions at the Centre Pompidou, Paris; Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam; Tate Modern, London; and many others.

Collections

Nkanga’s works are held in significant public and private collections, including The Studio Museum in Harlem, Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Museum Folkwang, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and the Sharjah Art Foundation.

Website

Otobong Nkanga’s website can be found here.

Further Reading

Nkanga’s practice has been widely reviewed in international publications, including Ocula Magazine, Artsy, Art Africa, and Contemporary Art Issue.

Otobong Nkanga FAQs

Tessa Moldan | Ocula | 2025