The Museum of Art Pudong has become a portal into the transformative artistry of El Anatsui, the Ghanaian sculptor whose work turns discarded materials into profound meditations on history, migration, and identity.

Opening its global tour in Shanghai, El Anatsui: After the Red Moon is an expansive three-act installation that redefines MAP’s exhibition space, marking a collaboration with Tate Modern that merges the local with the universal, the personal with the historical.

The installation, conceived as the Hyundai Commission for Tate Modern in 2023, has now been reimagined for its Shanghai debut, transforming MAP’s Hall X and Entrance Hall into ethereal landscapes of flowing metal. It is the largest installation the museum has hosted, and the works shimmer with both physical and metaphorical weight. Thousands of crushed liquor bottle caps and metal fragments have been painstakingly wired together by hand, forming monumental pieces that pulse with a sense of history and humanity.

At the heart of Anatsui’s artistry lies a tension between fragility and resilience, chaos and order. His three-act installation—The Waves, The World, and The Wall—takes visitors on an immersive journey through interconnected narratives. Each act invites viewers to confront the entangled histories of migration, trade, and cultural hybridity.

After the Red Moon Installation Credit: Museum of Art Pudong (MAP)

In The Waves, Anatsui responds directly to the architecture of MAP, located on the banks of the Huangpu River. The cascading metal forms mimic the ebb and flow of water, evoking port cultures and the movement of goods and people—a nod to the transatlantic slave trade and the global journeys of his materials. From a vantage point above, the shimmering forms appear almost tidal, their fluidity a metaphor for the persistence of cultural exchange.

The World explores the tension between individuality and collectivity. Thin seals from bottle caps form a net-like material, suspended in layers that suggest human figures in motion. When viewed from a particular angle, these scattered shapes resolve into a single, unified globe, symbolizing the interconnectedness of humanity across time and space.

The final act, The Wall, is a towering expanse of black woven metal, punctuated by a mosaic of silver and multicolored fragments. Rising from its base are waves of bottle tops, a visual crescendo that conveys both the violence and beauty of collision—be it of cultures, histories, or identities. The juxtaposition of blackness and vibrant color invites contemplation of Africa’s colonial past and its contemporary diasporic narratives.

After the Red Moon Installation Credit: Museum of Art Pudong (MAP)

From a distance, these three installations coalesce into a thread symbols: the moon, the Earth, the wave. Up close, they reveal the intricate social histories embedded in their materials. The exhibition is a masterclass in material as metaphor, as Anatsui transforms the detritus of consumer culture into meditations on power, survival, and renewal.

Accompanying the exhibition is a soundscape by Ghanaian-British artist Peter Adjaye, adding an auditory dimension to the visual experience. Visitors can access these immersive compositions on-site, enhancing the emotional resonance of the works.

The exhibition offers audiences a chance to traverse the borders of art, history, and identity through the lens of a singular artistic vision.

Source:artreport.Africa

art and culture

After the Red Moon: El Anatsui Works Begin Global Tour in China