Passing through Hong Kong’s gleaming skyscrapers, we arrive at one of the most monumental and captivating recycling stories in the art world. The living legend of contemporary sculpture, Ghanaian artist El Anatsui, is presenting his first exhibition with White Cube gallery: “MivEvi”.
The exhibition, which opened on 25 March and will run until 9 May 2026, unveils an unprecedented new body of work by the artist, shown simultaneously at White Cube galleries in both Hong Kong and Seoul.
Splendour Born from Waste: El Anatsui’s Alchemy
El Anatsui (b. 1944, Ghana) is renowned for transforming ordinary and discarded materials — especially metal bottle caps from liquor bottles and copper wire — into monumental, shimmering, and fabric-like undulating sculptural tapestries.
These works are not static sculptures; they are living structures that can take on a different form every time they are hung, dancing with light and prompting viewers to reflect on both Africa’s colonial history and global consumer culture. By merging the hardness of metal with the softness of textiles, Anatsui has been redefining the boundaries of the concept of “sculpture” for decades.
From Tate Modern to the Heart of Asia
If you were in London in 2023–24, you will remember the famous “Behind the Red Moon” installation that filled Tate Modern’s vast Turbine Hall. Following that monumental success, Anatsui greeted Asia with the “After the Red Moon” exhibition at the Shanghai Pudong Art Museum in 2024. Now, with previously unseen works at White Cube, he is crowning this journey.
A Simultaneous Experience: Hong Kong and Seoul
One of the most striking aspects of the “MivEvi” exhibition is its simultaneous presentation in two major Asian art centres. In these new works, the artist further deepens the relationship between form and material, inviting the viewer to confront the memory embedded in the materials.
If you want to experience up close the mystical atmosphere created by light on metal and these “metallic fabrics” born from immense labour, be sure to add this exhibition to your Hong Kong itinerary:
Dates: 25 March 2026 – 9 May 2026
Venue: White Cube, Hong Kong (simultaneously at White Cube, Seoul)
Important: This first presentation by the artist with White Cube marks the opening of a new chapter in his career.
