Otobong Nkanga Presents a Loom Installation for the Opening of Kanal – Centre Pompidou in Brussels

Commissioned for the opening of Kanal – Centre Pompidou in Brussels, Otobong Nkanga presents an installation that transforms one of the museum’s expansive spaces into a site for encounter and collective creation. Centred on a series of wooden looms, the work brings participants together to exchange skills and experiences, weaving personal and collective narratives into an evolving textile. Through this process, Nkanga explores weaving as a social act, fostering dialogue around collaboration, sustainability and shared authorship.

Situated within the former car garage and industrial production site that now houses the museum, the installation reflects on the structures of labour and economic exchange that underpin cultural institutions and the wider world. These concerns are central to Nkanga’s multidisciplinary practice, which examines the interconnected relationships between people, materials and their environments. By bringing together a network of partners and participants, the project considers how resources and responsibilities might be shared, foregrounding the museum’s role as a site for community-building and social exchange.

Based in Antwerp, Nkanga has developed an internationally recognised practice spanning installation, sculpture, drawing and performance. Her work explores the complex relationships between natural resources, histories and systems of exchange. In 2019, Nkanga received a Special Mention at the 58th Venice Biennale, followed by the Nasher Art Prize in 2020 and the Belgian Art Prize in 2021. In 2024, she was commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York to create a work for its atrium. In 2026, she was awarded the Sikkens Prize, which recognises artists whose work demonstrates an innovative use of colour.

The installation is on view at Kanal – Centre Pompidou from 28 November 2026 to 18 April 2027.

Learn more here.

Image: Detail of Otobong Nkanga, Cadence - Outburst, 2025. © The Artist, Courtesy Lisson.