EIIGHANA! AFRICA.

Kenyan‑American visual artist Wangechi Mutu has made art history by becoming the first living female artist to exhibit at Rome’s prestigious Galleria Borghese. Her solo showcase, titled “Black Soil Poems,” launched on June 10, 2025, and will run through September 14, 2025 .
Soaring Above Convention
Mutu’s installation features approximately 25 multimedia works, many dramatically suspended from the ceilings of the 17th‑century villa. This unconventional display creates a dynamic dialogue between her art and the museum’s ornate architecture, encouraging viewers to roam and interact with the space in a new way .
Deep Roots & Hybrid Forms
Drawing on her transnational identity—New York and Nairobi—Mutu challenges colonial and patriarchal narratives. She incorporates African symbolisms like coffee and tea leaves into Roman mosaic backdrops and explores themes of grief following her parents’ passing. One standout piece, “Ndege” (Swahili for “bird”), features suspended winged forms crafted from Nairobi branches and material from her late mother’s bedroom .
Political Poetics
Mutu uses her platform to critique Europe’s colonial history, migration, and nationalism—juxtaposing ancient panther mosaics with Bob Marley’s “War” lyrics spelled out in coffee and tea grounds. Her sculptural series “Shavasana” explores the tension in classical art traditions, continuing her role as a “ghostly” commentator within dominant cultural spaces .
A Spanning Legacy
With roots in anthropology and formal art training from Cooper Union and Yale, Mutu has long blurred genres—painting, installation, sculpture. She gained global recognition with the 2019 façade commission at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where she installed bronze caryatid-style figures .

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🖼️ Why It Matters
Historic moment: First living female artist at Galleria Borghese.
Cultural excavation: Confronts Europe–Africa histories in intimate and grand gestures.
Emotional storytelling: Includes personal grief and African heritage in Italian institutional spaces.
Ongoing influence: Builds upon worldwide acclaim, from the Met to New York’s major galleries.


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Mutu’s “Black Soil Poems” emerges as a masterful intersection of personal narrative, socio-political critique, and aesthetic innovation—inviting Rome’s patrons to rethink histories, spaces, and artistic agency.