Installation (Installation)

Flowers for Africa is a protocol project started in 2014, which questions the material that history is made of: its fragility, its infallibility, its visibility and its hierarchy. Starting with extensive research into visual archives related to decolonization, Kapwani Kiwanga focused upon the floral arrangements that were omnipresent in the images of ceremonies or events related to the independence of African countries. In the work’s protocol, the artist enumerates the bouquet’s components in order to reproduce them as found in the images.

Painting (Painting)

Kapwani Kiwanga’s Linear Painting series (2017) reflect the artist’s research into disciplinary architecture, including schools, prisons, hospitals, and mental health facilities. When they were presented together, the paintings were arranged according to a black horizontal line placed at 160 centimeters from the floor, which traced the entire perimeter of the gallery. According to hygiene standards in Europe, this would mark the height below which walls should be washed in order to prevent the spread of illnesses.