September 24 to December 19, 2021

South African artist Dineo Seshee Bopape’s upcoming art exhibition calls to the elements: earth, wind, fire, and water…summoned in various languages from West and Southern Africa, and features new works spanning video, sculpture, installation, and animation.  The exhibition, opening on September 24th at the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University, pays homage to those who were taken, those who struggled, those who fled, and those who still seek sanctuary in the liminal spaces between captivity and an illegal freedom. By transforming soil samples from Virginia, Louisiana, Senegal, Ghana, and South Africa into material for sculpture and video, Bopape highlights the connectedness of the disparate places—historically and materially. She forges harmonic conversations with ancestral pasts, presences, and futures.

For inspiration and exhibition materials, Dineo travels to Menokin to meet with Menokin’s Descendant Collective who represent those that were descended from enslaved laborers at the Warsaw, VA plantation. Menokin’s history, the legacies of the enslaved community, and modern descendants will be featured in the new exhibition.

Read the full description of the exhibition here.

To RSVP to the exhibition opening celebration on September 24, visit the ICA website.