Until 22 May, you can discover the work of both emerging and established artists in the booths of over a hundred leading galleries from the Netherlands and abroad in the iconic Van Nelle factory. We highlight a number of works by three outstanding artists.
Otobong Nkanga — ‘Tied to the other Side’ (2022) — Lumen Travo Gallery
One of the most remarkable works at the fair this year is unmistakably this gigantic tapestry (350 x 600 cm) by Otobong Nkanga, which is currently also on display in Venice in a presentation for Kunsthaus Bregenz. Nkanga made the lively, glittering work in the innovative textile lab of the Textile Museum in Tilburg. Otobong Nkanga, who was born in Nigeria, regularly refers to materials such as mica, nickel, malachite and copper in her work: raw materials that are used for, among other things, jewelry, make-up and smartphones and are therefore mined on a large scale. Her work is concerned with our insatiable lust for raw materials, reducing nature to a commodity. As a society, we seem to have an inexhaustible desire for glitter, glamour and extreme type of individualism. Nkanga highlights the exploitation of African countries to obtain these materials: first within a colonial context and now within a capitalist context. For this work, Nkanga takes a more specific look at our relationship with the elements of earth and water. Life on Earth needs water to survive, but at the same time the seas have also become a geopolitical field, where countries and companies mine valuable elements such as copper, nickel and cobalt. A system in which people, land and sea are being exploited.
Sheila Hicks — ‘Beacon’ (2022) — EENWERK
This year, you won't only see Sheila Hicks' work at the MoMA, Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou or the Victoria & Albert Museum, but also at Art Rotterdam. The 87-year-old American artist is one of the great names in textile art and is known for her innovative, woven sculptures, for which she always pushed the boundaries of what is possible with fibers and yarns. Colour plays a central role in this: “Color is in my blood.” she once stated in an interview with The Guardian. Hicks originally began her artistic career as a painter, but became increasingly fascinated with weaving practices. She has researched local textile traditions all around the world, in countries like Mexico, France, Morocco, India, Chile, Sweden, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Japan and South Africa.
Buhlebezwe Siwani — ‘Eziko’ (2018) — No Man's Art Gallery
The South African artist Buhlebezwe Siwani works in a wide range of materials: from a socially charged local soap (preem soap) to her own body. She makes video works, photography, sculptures, installations and paintings. At Art Rotterdam she shows a symbolic video artwork in which she responds to the legacy that is the result of centuries of colonisation by the Dutch and the Brits. That legacy has left traces not only in heritage and collective memory, but also in the body and imagination. Besides being an artist, Siwani is also a sangoma, a spiritual healer. In the video artwork 'Eziko' she refers to local spiritual traditions, which were (and are) long suppressed and mocked by the Christianity that the settlers brought with them. She also investigates the role that (Black) women play in the power structures of religion and the ways in which they can reappropriate their original religious and spiritual traditions in a postcolonial context.