October 22, 2020

In collaboration with Haus der Kunst in Munich, the Kunstmuseum Bern is mounting a large-scale exhibition of the work of Ghanaian artist El Anatsui. He is arguably Africa’s most renowned contemporary artist and famous for his large sculptures of recycled bottle caps that decorate whole walls like magnificent tapestries.

At the same time, the former metal bottle caps of liquor bottles reflect the (post-)colonial relationship between Europe, Africa and the New World. The exhibition focuses on the monumentality of El Anatsui's work and reveals how it developed out of his life-long passion for drawing, his wooden sculptures carved with chainsaws, and the ceramics he produced in the early years of his artistic career.

Curators: Okwui Enwezor and Chika Okeke-Agulu
In collaboration with Kathleen Bühler

Organized by Haus der Kunst, Munich, in cooperation with MATHAF: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Kunstmuseum Bern and Guggenheim Bilbao.