Wednesday, December 10, 2025

Obedient Shapes * Kapwani Kiwanga



Kiwanga uses colour, geometry and calibrated surfaces to reveal how space disciplines the body. Her installations deploy curves, grids and translucent planes as instruments of quiet regulation—architectures that guide movement, soften resistance and naturalise control. These shapes appear gentle, almost domestic, yet they carry the historical weight of design as a political tool. Through restrained gestures and chromatic cues, the work exposes how obedience is produced not by force but by ambience: by the tones, textures and spatial rhythms that script behaviour. In Kiwanga’s hands, form becomes policy.