The fraocanadian artist Kapwani Kiwanga He has received the Joan Miró 2025 award for the set of a formally and reflective diverse work. The jury considered that the creator: “She has formalized in a careful way the historical and social events that have formed contemporary realities.” According to the jury members, their facilities are “provocative presentations that invite reflection, but are formally sensual.”
The jury, formed by Hoor Al Qasimi, Marko Daniel, Jorge Díez, Pablo Lafuente, Ann-Sofi Noring and Marie-Helene Pereira, awarded the 50,000 euros of the award to an artist that stands out for his exquisite treatment of the fabrics, ceramics and materials with which he usually works, as well as its use of color and space within its facilities. Kinawaga always seeks to connect and deepen the local stories that he refers to in his works. «His work is very beautiful. He plays extraordinaryly with the relationship of exterior and interior spaces, with great sense of design and architecture. In addition, the permeability of the materials he works is very powerful, ”said Marko Daniels, director of the Miró Foundation.
Kinawaga was born in Hamilton, Canada, in 1978. Expert in comparative anthropology and religion, her work is promoted by the investigation of the marginalized and forgotten stories of the peoples she decides to deal with. «I don’t know if something inspired me to be an artist. Rather I was looking for languages to explain myself. First I tried with the Academy, then with the cinema, and I arrived in art as a last option, but there I found the final vehicle to say what I wanted to say, ”said the artist after receiving the award.
A continuous relationship with Barcelona
His work could already be seen in the Macbaand five years ago he made some performance in Barcelona, but his large -format works in Spain have not yet been seen, at least in depth. «The role of the artist is very varied. For me it is something simple, but important. I want to give tools to feel, think and look at reality differently. Not becoming static and complacent, but looking for new perspectives with which to face reality. That’s why I think art should be part of all people’s day to day, ”said Kiwanga.
Next year, the artist will present a great exhibition in The Miró Foundation in which his works will dialogue with the museum spaces, as well as with the work of the Catalan artist. «I still don’t know what I will do. The truth is that I am a last minute person. I usually start with a question, then I document, investigate and little by little the way of expressing these questions comes out. I give myself complete freedom so that the works are what they have to be. The only thing I know about what I will do at the Foundation is that architecture will have an important role and that the work will dialogue with the socio -political and cultural reality of space, ”said the artist.
For Kiwanga, Joan Miró has always been a reference and knew his works long before knowing his name. This recognition allows you Ignasi Aballí, Roni Horn, Pipilotti Rist or Olafur Eliasson. “When you start you ask yourself if you will get it, if you can pay your bills and this award does nothing but reaffirm yourself on the path you have decided to take,” he says.
Kiwanga’s work has been seen in the world. In 2023 he received the Guggwnheim scholarship, as well as the Zurich Art Prize. Has also received the Marcel Duchamp AwardFrieze Art Award or the Sobery Art Award. In addition, in 2014 it represented Canada at the 60 Biennial of Venice. «I studied anthropology to escape the Eurocentric look and look for new forms of expression. From there my need to show the multiplicity of points of view in which we all converge, ”concluded the artist
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