Tabita Rezaire. Calabash Nebula
Curated by Chus Martínez
October 8, 2024 –
January 12, 2025
Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
Tabita Rezaire. Calabash Nebula. Ana Domínguez Studio.
Current
Exhibitions
MNTB Madrid
EN / ES
From indigenous knowledges to digital technologies
Tabita Rezaire is an interdisciplinary artist and activist exploring the intersections between technology, spirituality, decolonization and healing. She uses video, performance art and the creation of immersive spaces to challenge hegemonic narratives and advocate a holistic understanding of the world in which realities are interconnected. Her work focuses on the decolonization of knowledge and on researching the ways in which patriarchal and power structures shape our perception and use of technology. Rezaire’s work salvages ancestral knowledges and practices that were marginalized or silenced, and merges indigenous, African and non-Western knowledges with digital technologies to explore how spiritual and healing practices can be used as tools for resistance, emancipation and reconstruction of identities and communities.
Tabita Rezaire. Calabash Nebula showcases three new works by the artist produced in 2024: OMI: Yemoja Temple, co-produced by TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary and Schering Stiftung, Berlin, where the work was presented as part of the exhibition Omi Libations (April–July 2024); Des/astres, commissioned and co-produced by TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary and Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, where the work will be presented in 2025 as part of the Open Space program; and Omu Elu, commissioned by Lagos Biennale (2024), Nigeria, courtesy of Tabita Rezaire and Goodman Gallery.
Des/Astres is an installation co-produced by TBA21 and the Louis Vuitton Foundation. It is inspired by the ‘tukisipan’ buildings of the Wayana, with their ‘malawana’ (house sky). These are meeting places for assemblies, celebrations, exchange, transference and collaboration. The video installation - which is projected on the underside of the carbet’s roof as a digital sky - delves into Amazonian astronomical traditions and French Guiana’s strategic position amid global space challenges, encompassing both terrestrial and extraterrestrial realms.
OMI: Yemoja Temple is an immersive installation dedicated to the Orisha Yemoya, mother spirit of rivers and oceans, symbol of the origin and perpetuity of life. This work is the outcome of a collaboration between artist Tabita Rezaire, artist and architect Yussef Agbo-Ola and biologists Alex Jordan and Anja Wegner, from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour. The work explores the intersection of biology and spirituality, focusing on water as its main motif. It is the result of a research trip to Tanzania undertaken by the four collaborators to study the flora and fauna of the coral reefs and the ecosystem of Lake Tanganyika. The alignment of biology, ecology, spirituality and architecture offers new perspectives on aquatic dimensions and the origin of life. This sensorial temple, shaped as a droplet, invites visitors to connect with an environment inhabited by physical and spiritual beings through an indigo-dyed textile surface and an immersive sound installation. This piece has been co-produced by Schering Stiftung and TBA21.
The exhibition features an extensive program of activities which will include performance art, workshops, talks, and more; in them, international experts and thinkers will take part alongside local artists and agents. A digital publication related to the show will be available for download.
The public program for the exhibition has been generously supported by Institute Française Madrid, Real Observatorio de Madrid, Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC), and developed In collaboration with Educathyssen and Organismo I Art in Applied Critical Ecologies.
From indigenous knowledges to digital technologies
Tabita Rezaire is an interdisciplinary artist and activist exploring the intersections between technology, spirituality, decolonization and healing. She uses video, performance art and the creation of immersive spaces to challenge hegemonic narratives and advocate a holistic understanding of the world in which realities are interconnected. Her work focuses on the decolonization of knowledge and on researching the ways in which patriarchal and power structures shape our perception and use of technology. Rezaire’s work salvages ancestral knowledges and practices that were marginalized or silenced, and merges indigenous, African and non-Western knowledges with digital technologies to explore how spiritual and healing practices can be used as tools for resistance, emancipation and reconstruction of identities and communities.
Tabita Rezaire. Calabash Nebula showcases three new works by the artist produced in 2024: OMI: Yemoja Temple, co-produced by TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary and Schering Stiftung, Berlin, where the work was presented as part of the exhibition Omi Libations (April–July 2024); Des/astres, commissioned and co-produced by TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary and Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, where the work will be presented in 2025 as part of the Open Space program; and Omu Elu, commissioned by Lagos Biennale (2024), Nigeria, courtesy of Tabita Rezaire and Goodman Gallery.
Des/Astres is an installation co-produced by TBA21 and the Louis Vuitton Foundation. It is inspired by the ‘tukisipan’ buildings of the Wayana, with their ‘malawana’ (house sky). These are meeting places for assemblies, celebrations, exchange, transference and collaboration. The video installation - which is projected on the underside of the carbet’s roof as a digital sky - delves into Amazonian astronomical traditions and French Guiana’s strategic position amid global space challenges, encompassing both terrestrial and extraterrestrial realms.
OMI: Yemoja Temple is an immersive installation dedicated to the Orisha Yemoya, mother spirit of rivers and oceans, symbol of the origin and perpetuity of life. This work is the outcome of a collaboration between artist Tabita Rezaire, artist and architect Yussef Agbo-Ola and biologists Alex Jordan and Anja Wegner, from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour. The work explores the intersection of biology and spirituality, focusing on water as its main motif. It is the result of a research trip to Tanzania undertaken by the four collaborators to study the flora and fauna of the coral reefs and the ecosystem of Lake Tanganyika. The alignment of biology, ecology, spirituality and architecture offers new perspectives on aquatic dimensions and the origin of life. This sensorial temple, shaped as a droplet, invites visitors to connect with an environment inhabited by physical and spiritual beings through an indigo-dyed textile surface and an immersive sound installation. This piece has been co-produced by Schering Stiftung and TBA21.
The exhibition features an extensive program of activities which will include performance art, workshops, talks, and more; in them, international experts and thinkers will take part alongside local artists and agents. A digital publication related to the show will be available for download.
The public program for the exhibition has been generously supported by Institute Française Madrid, Real Observatorio de Madrid, Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC), and developed In collaboration with Educathyssen and Organismo I Art in Applied Critical Ecologies.
