Otobong Nkanga, Luster and Lucre

Otobong Nkanga’s first monograph, Luster and Lucre, charts an intensely productive period from 2013 to 2016, which includes exhibitions at the 8th Berlin Biennale; Portikus, Frankfurt am Main; KADIST, Paris; and M HKA, Antwerp. Its title encapsulates the complex concerns that underpin these shows: “luster,” the illustrious shining of materials; and “lucre,” profits and gains. With the mineral mica as her starting point, Nkanga’s research took her to archives in Berlin, Strasbourg, and Windhoek, and led her along a colonial railroad in Namibia to the historic Tsumeb mine. This rich research became works that probe the ambivalence of that which shines: poems, intricate drawings, modular sculptures that form systems of display, and performances that are both gestural and dialogical.

Edited by Clare Molloy, Philippe Pirotte, Fabian Schöneich. Texts by Denise Ferreira da Silva, Natasha Ginwala, Clare Molloy, Otobong Nkanga, Philippe Pirotte, Fabian Schöneich. Published by Sterneberg Press and Portikus, in collaboration with KADIST and M HKA. English/German, 215 × 275 mm, 280 pages, 18 b/w and 94 color illustrations, ISBN 978-3-95679-318-9. Available at Sternberg Press.