Tabita Rezaire. Calabash Nebula

From 8 October until 12 January 2025, the TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Foundation and the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum present the first solo exhibition in Spain by French artist Tabita Rezaire. A project composed of two important installations: Des/Astres and Omi: Yemoja Temple (2024), 

French Guiana-based artist Tabita Rezaire is a multidisciplinary artist and activist who explores the intersections between technology, spirituality, decolonisation and healing. Her work has been seen in spaces and museums such as the Tate Modern, the Serpentine Gallery (London), MoMA and The New Museum (New York), the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), Gropius Bau (Berlin), Kunsthal Charlottenborg (Copenhagen), and Kunsthal Aarhus, among others.

The Calabash Nebula exhibition curated by Chus Martinez brings together two new installation pieces. Des/Astres is an installation co-produced by TBA21 and the Louis Vuitton Foundation, reminiscent of the “tukisipan” constructions of the Wayana people and their “maluwana” (house sky) wooden discs. A meeting place designed for assemblies, celebrations, exchange, transmission and collaboration. The video installation accompanying the installation is projected onto the ceiling as a digital sky, which explores Amazonian astronomical traditions and the strategic position of French Guiana in the midst of global space challenges, encompassing terrestrial and extraterrestrial kingdoms.

OMI: Yemoja Temple is an immersive installation dedicated to the Orisha Yemoja, the mother spirit of the rivers and oceans, a symbol of origin and perpetuity of life. This work is the result of collaboration between artist Tabita Rezaire, artist and architect Yussef Agbo-Ola and biologists Alex Jordan and Anja Wegner from the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior. The work explores the confluence between biology and spirituality, with water as its main motif, resulting in a research trip that the four made to Tanzania to study the flora and fauna of Lake Tanganyika. This piece has been co-produced by Schering Stiftung and TBA21.

The exhibition has a broad parallel programme of activities including performances, workshops, conversations, and more, involving local artists and agents, as well as leading international experts and thinkers. There is also an accompanying digital publication.

Image credits:

• Tabita Rezaire [Amakaba] x Yussef Agbo-Ola [Olaniyi Studio], Omi: Yemoja Temple, 2024, installation of the exhibition Omi Libations in Schering Stiftung, Berlin. Photo: © Jens Ziehe
• Tabita Rezaire.
• Yussef Agbo-Ola