On the Cover:
Dineo Seshee Bopape, exhibition view of “Dineo Seshee Bopape” at PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv, Ukraine, 2018. Photo: Maksym Bilousov, Courtesy the PinchukArtCentre © 2018.
Editor’s Letter:
The impacts and legacies of colonialism run through this issue like veins of ore through bedrock. Among those, ecologic impacts seem to energize the featured artists more than any other.
“I come from the place of Ibibio culture—with that relationship to land, to soil, and that way of thinking of things that are connected beyond the tangible,” says the Nigerian-Belgian artist Otobong Nkanga in an interview conducted by Folasade Ologundudu. The winner of the 2025 Nasher Prize, Nkanga in her installations and sculptures often reflects on resource extraction and replenishment. Romuald Hazoumè produces extraordinary “masks” and other sculptures from plastic gasoline containers of the sort used to transport contraband petroleum from Nigeria to his country, Benin. Readers of Sculpture probably need no introduction to Yinka Shonibare, the British artist of Nigerian descent. Here, he talks about recent works, such as Decolonised Structures and Sanctuary City, and discusses the ecological effects of colonialism, migration, as well as the good and the bad of aspiration. Although South African artist Dineo Seshee Bopape doesn’t explicitly focus on colonialism, she employs flowers, plants, soil, and other natural elements in her pieces, many of which are site-specific installations, to explore memory, culture, and place. Risa Puno bases her interactive practice on the pre-colonial Philippine concept of kapwa, which means “shared identity” or “shared humanity.” Highlighting communal ways of addressing problems, Puno creates playful games and installations that tackle issues like data privacy and caretaking. Whether intentionally or not, her work also points to the fact that art is one way our global society confronts problems. What makes the artists in this issue so compelling is that their confrontations are so imbued with empathy. —Daniel Kunitz, Editor-in-Chief
