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Kapwani Kiwanga: Oriental Studies: Morgen, 2019

Even if we know nothing about contemporary artist Kapwani Kiwanga and her sculptures, we can immediately see the intimate connections to the paintings displayed on the wall. The paintings date from 1914, and are the work of German artist Max Slevogt on a trip down the Nile during the colonial period. Kiwanga’s sculpture evokes the same cool blue of the morning, the same soft white of the desert sand, and the same mysterious dark colours of the women’s garments.

Born in Canada in 1978, the artist has long researched into the history of colours, their effect and meaning. For her Oriental Studies: Morgen sculpture, she chose eleven colour tones from Slevogt’s Morgen bei Luxor – “Morning near Luxor”. Working with the standardised Natural Colour System, conservators at the Albertinum scientifically defined the colours to produce dyes for the cotton fabrics in exactly the same tones as Slevogt’s originals. The dyed cotton fabrics were then positioned over the metal frames to enter into a dialogue with the paintings. Yet at the same time, the fabrics and paintings mutually influence one another – depending on the time of day and the beholder’s position.

In this dialogue transcending time, light is important in a variety of ways. Max Slevogt painted his scenes plein air – out of doors –, sometimes waiting a long time for the ideal light conditions. And we are now viewing the paintings in Dresden’s rather cool and changeable daylight from the skylight above. The skylight is quoted in the sculpture’s illuminated base, though this also bathes the fabric in a warm southern light.

In her work, Kapwani Kiwanga is interested in exploring such questions as: How do we see colours in a painting and in simple lengths of dyed fabric? How does a work change when it is taken to a different country and exhibited there in a museum? And what power relations in the history of seeing and being seen does this evoke? Certainly, since Kapwani Kiwanga juxtaposed Slevogt’s works with her Oriental Studies from 2019, we can see these scenes painted along the Nile with different eyes.