O Barco (2021), Sculptural Installation with 146 charcoaled wooden pieces, engraved poem, hand painted with gold leaf.Dimensions: 3200 x 750 cm (1259.8 x 295.27 in.)
O Barco (2021) is a sculptural installation, which stretches for 32 meters forming the silhouette of a boat. In this piece, the artist carefully reveals the archeology of the bottom of a ship and the space created to accommodate the bodies of millions of Africans, enslaved by European empires. The large scale installation reveals “one of the longest and most horrendous chapters of humanity - Slavery,” says Kilomba, and becomes a garden of memory, where a poem rests on the burnt wood. Commissioned by BoCa Biennale, Lisbon and Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Germany.
This piece was awarded twice as the Best Solo Exhibition in Brazil 2024 at Inhotim, by SP-Arte and Revista Select.
Selected Exhibition History:
2021 BoCa Biennale and MAAT-Museum of Architecture,Art and Techonology, Lisbon
2022 Somerset House and 1:54 London, London
2024 Inhotim Museu Aberto de Arte Contemporanea, Brumadinho
Installation views: Grada Kilomba, O Barco, 2021, Solo Exhibition at the Inhotim Museu Aberto de Arte Contemporanea, Brumadinho, Brazil, 2024. Courtesy of the Artist and Inhotim.