1978
Kapwani Kiwanga (°1978, Hamilton, CA) is a French and Canadian artist. Kiwanga’s work traces the pervasive impact of power asymmetries by placing historic narratives in dialogue with contemporary realities, the archive, and tomorrow’s possibilities. Her work is research-driven and articulated across a range of materials and mediums including sculpture, installation, photography, video, and performance.
Her solo exhibitions have been presented at prominent institutions including Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona (2026); Copenhagen Contemporary (2024); Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto (2023); Serralves Foundation, Porto (2023); Haus der Kunst, Munich (2020); New Museum, New York (2022); Capc – Musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux (2023); and MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA (2019).
Kiwanga has received numerous international awards, including the Joan Miró Prize (2025), Zurich Art Prize (2022), Marcel Duchamp Prize (2020), Frieze Artist Award (2018) and Sobey Art Award (2018).
Fellowships have included a Guggenheim Fellowship (2023), a fellowship at the French Academy in Rome’s Villa Medici (2023), and the Elizabeth S. and Richard M. Cashin Fellowship at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, Cambridge, MA (2022–23).
In 2024 she represented Canada at the 60th Venice Biennale with her project Trinket.