Otobong Nkanga has developed a practice that reads the world on material terms and maps out how the body fits into a shared, earthly narrative. This tapestry reflects on the harvesting and transportation of the kolanut and its cultural significance in Nigeria.
At the heart of this tapestry was the consideration of a commodified natural resource—the kolanut plant was a key ingredient for Coca Cola and other caffeine-based soft drinks when they emerged at the turn of the 20th century. In Nigeria, the plant is used in many different ways, from the spiritual, to ceremonies and connecting with people, the spirits and various ancestors. Through the direct encounter with a single resource that represents an entire commercial history, Nkanga draws attention again to the material realities of a globalised present that is all too often understood only on macro level.
Much of Otobong’s research focuses on tropical plants, what they symbolise, their economical values and how certain plants become so banalised or so normal, entering into the stock market, while some resist. To her, the kolanut is one of those plants that resists and not resists.
The entire process started with the artist's research into the library of CIRAD, the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development in Paris' Bois De Vincennes, and the history and global impact of the West African kolanut. Once her artwork was beginning to take shape she translated it into a woven surface in the TextielLab, frequently adjusting the design during the development process. Of note in this design are the areas of floating linen yarns, creating a vivid texture.
Otobong Nkanga was born in 1974 in Kano, Nigeria. She lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium. Nkanga works with textile, drawing, photography, installation, video and performance. She makes works about the relationships between, and the exploitation of, the landscape, people and work. Plants, stones, dust, gloss and archive material are recurring elements in her complex installations.
She began her art studies at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria and continued at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris. In 2008, she obtained a master’s degree in performing art from Dasarts, Amsterdam. Since graduating, she has exhibited widely.
