ART BASEL UNLIMITED 2019

As part of Art Basel Unlimited, Galerie Poggi is pleased to present the new monumental piece from the acclaimed series “Flowers For Africa” by Kapwani Kiwanga.

Based on visual archives related to decolonization, Kapwani Kiwanga has defined a protocol that allows to re-enact compositions of flowers used for obviously symbolic purposes in ceremonies or events related to the independence of African countries.

For this project the artist re-enacts the arch which was built in 1961, for the independence of Rwanda.

“Flowers for Africa” questions the materials from which history is made of : its fragility, its infallibility, its visibility and its hierarchy. Fading inexorably during their exhibition until they are discarded during dismantling, these compositions of flowers are still lifes, condemned to perish and disappear, unless the will of the artist, of a curator or a collector is to revive them regularly to make them arise to present.

The foundations of Flowers for Africa took shape during Kapwani Kiwanga’s residence in Dakar, Senegal (2013). It is an ongoing project, which generates new works depending on each context or exhibition. Today, the project encom- passes thirteen countries. Recently, several retrospectives have been dedicated to Flowers for Africa, such as The Hammer Museum Los Angeles, 2018 (US); and the MACBA, Barcelona, 2019 (ES).

This project was realized in collaboration with Goodman Gallery Johannesburg, South Africa and Tanja Wagner Gallery, Berlin.