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.