Otobong Nkanga - I dreamt of you in colours

Catalogue of the exhibition Otobong Nkanga. I dreamt of you in colours, presented at the Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris (10 October 2025 - 22 February 2026).

Since the late 1990s, Otobong Nkanga (born in Kano, Nigeria, in 1974 and living in Antwerp, Belgium) has addressed themes related to ecology and feminism in her work, creating powerful pieces based on her personal history and research, which reflect multiple transhistorical and multicultural influences.

Trained at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ife, then at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-arts in Paris and the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, the artist explores the exploitation of the soil and the female body in relation to space and the earth, drawing networks and constellations between human beings and landscapes.

The first monograph in French devoted to the artist, this book presents her multidisciplinary practice, which combines painting, installations, tapestries, performances, poetry, and more.

This bilingual work includes a series of photographs taken during her exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art.

In addition to three essays (Noam Gramlich, Sandrine Honliasso, Maya Tounta), the catalogue includes a lengthy interview between the artist and curators Odile Burluraux and Nicole Schweizer. Views of works in situ complete the section devoted to reproductions.

CONTENTS
Preface
Fabrice Hergott and Juri Steiner
“I dreamt of you in colours”
A conversation with Otobong Nkanga
Odile Burluraux and Nicole Schweizer
ESSAYS
Expressing connection, rupture and glimmer
Noam Gramlich
Carved to Flow – an infrastructure for redistribution
Maya Tounta
The echo of their voices
Sandrine Honliasso
Appendices
Biography