Wangechi Mutu: Black Soil Poems is reviewed by Forbes

Inside the Galleria Borghese, Mutu’s interventions are elegant yet subversive. She neither displaces nor overwhelms the Borghese’s famed collection of classical art. Instead, her works float, dangle and shimmer playfully—acting as whispers rather than proclamations. Sculptures such as NdegeSuspended Playtime, and First Weeping Head are suspended delicately from the villa’s ceilings, lightly interrupting the visual flow of the museum without obscuring it. These hanging pieces resist the pull of gravity and tradition alike. Their placement introduces a spatial reorientation: rather than gazing at static monuments of Western art history, visitors are urged to look up, around, within — to question what they see and what they don’t.'

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Image: Wangechi Mutu, Older Sisters I, 2019
© Galleria Borghese
Courtesy of Galleria Borghese

June 30 2025