Feed Me Not ≠ Feed Me Not | Group exhibition | ARTCO Galerie Berlin | 09.02.-06.04.2024

The exhibition “Feed me not” brings together multidisciplinary artistic perspectives that question our relationship with the materials, information, and emotions we encounter in daily life. By addressing these relationships in both subjective and critical ways, the showcased works offer new approaches for interacting with our environment. Participating artists transform everyday items such as electronic waste, discarded materials, and collected flip-flops into sublime objects. These repurposed creations highlight how contemporary societal choices impact our future. Whether through performances, photography, or abstract tapestries, the exhibition serves as a visual exploration of global supply chains, the overproduction of plastic, and the responsibility we bear for the planet.

Alongside works by gallery artists Exocé Kasongo, Maurice Mbikayi, and Patrick Tagoe-Turkson, the exhibition also documents a community project initiated by fashion designer Jana Heinemann in collaboration with Kwabena Obiri Yeboah and artist Martin Wöllenstein. The Nnoboa Space provides young art and design talents from the Sekondi-Takoradi region with a comprehensive training program led by local and international experts in fashion design, film, and photography.

Artists

Jana Heinemann (b. 1993, Germany) – A fashion designer who creates prints for her label IMPARI using recycled materials in her Berlin-Friedrichshain studio. Her mission is to build a community advocating for a socially and environmentally sustainable future. IMPARI embodies the belief that collaborating with like-minded businesses and creatives is key to transforming the fashion industry.

Natisa Exocé Kasongo (b. 1995, France) – A Berlin-based multidisciplinary Afrocentric performer, dancer, visual artist, and creative director. Kasongo’s work connects the traditional wisdom of the African continent with contemporary life in the diaspora, preserving both history and the future of a Pan-African identity. In his latest series, “NtotoCyb,” he uses AI-driven machinery to create Afro-futuristic figures adorned with helmets, cables, and technological accessories, moving beyond the iconic hairstyle that has become his trademark. He states, “While the world believes it is in the midst of discovering new technologies made from Central African resources, memories from the Age of Aquarius remind us that there is truly nothing new under the sun…!!!”

Maurice Mbikayi (b. 1974, Democratic Republic of the Congo) – Born in Kinshasa and trained in graphic design at the Académie des Beaux-Arts, Mbikayi earned his Master of Fine Art (with distinction) in Cape Town, where he currently lives and works. His art interrogates the significance and growth of technological goods in the global system, integrating collected remnants of rapid technological development into his collages, sculptures, and performance photographs, thereby linking these materials to their political contexts.

SELVA (b. 1987, Argentina) – An interdisciplinary artist based in Berlin who moves fluidly between art, fashion, installation, and performance. Known for his stark, all-white approach and as the founder of the Brutalist Functional Art Movement (BFAM), Selva presents his installations within dystopian settings to provoke thought about values in a post-global, neo-capitalist world. By exploring new aesthetic norms and technological advancements, Selva intentionally pushes the boundaries of art and fashion.

Patrick Tagoe-Turkson (b. 1978, Ghana) – Approaches art with a focus on sustainability. He holds a Master of Fine Art from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana, and teaches painting at Takoradi Technical University, where he uses his artistic vision as a teaching tool to discuss resource consumption. Together with his students, he collects flip-flops and discarded plastic from Ghana’s beaches and reconstructs them into abstract tapestries in his Takoradi studio. These works highlight urgent ecological issues while also creating a space for community and connection.

Martin Wöllenstein (b. 1991, Germany) – An artist and media facilitator who is part of the Nnoboa Space project. Responsible for directing the video documentation of recent activities in Ghana, Wöllenstein, who studied art in Halle, Istanbul, Havana, and Basel, creates collective narrative spaces that challenge power structures. His research, actions, and installations have been featured internationally, including at the Sinop Biennale, Havana Biennale, and KASKO Basel.