Kapwani Kiwanga

A multidisciplinary and polyphonic portrait of Kapwani Kiwanga’s practice and thought.

The first major monograph by one of today’s most talked-about contemporary artists, this publication, designed by London-based graphic design studio A Practice for Everyday Life, documents her body of work since her debut in 2009, highlighting her key areas of research, from disciplinary architecture and Afrofuturism to her singular vision of minimalism and her political and spiritual convictions. It brings together diverse contributions from art historians and critics, curators, and anthropologists, including Omar Berrada, Emanuele Coccia, Adrienne Edwards, Lesley Lokko, and November Paynter.

In her work, Kapwani Kiwanga (b. 1978, Hamilton, Ontario; lives and works in Paris) draws on her training in the social sciences to develop singular research projects in which she embodies the role of a researcher. Her method consists of creating systems and protocols that act as filters through which she observes cultures and their capacity for mutation. Her projects result in installations, videos, sound works or performances. In general, her practice questions notions such as Afrofuturism, anti-colonial struggles and their memory, as well as popular and vernacular cultures.