# African Identity-Inspired Exhibitions
Gagosian Hosts the Awulai Ashia & Nkyinkyim Exhibition

By Kalin Ned | Published 2025-07-14 | Art & Design
Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/african-identity
References: [archdaily](https://www.archdaily.com/1032051/awulai-ashia-and-nkyinkyim-exhibition-at-gagosian-deroche-projects)

![African Identity-Inspired Exhibitions](https://cdn.trendhunterstatic.com/thumbs/576/african-identity.jpeg)

The Awulai Ashia & Nkyinkyim exhibition at Gagosian transforms traditional gallery conventions into an immersive cultural experience that actively engages with themes of memory, community, and African identity. The project is framed as a profound collaboration between artist Amoako Boafo and DeRoche Projects.

Spanning 1,800 square meters across two galleries in London's Mayfair district, the exhibition transcends passive viewing through architectural interventions that serve as both a narrative framework and a participatory space. The design employs charred Accoya timber as a unifying material to create a multisensory environment where the scent of burnt wood evokes ancestral connections while structurally reimagining the courtyard of Boafo's childhood home as an abstracted, monochromatic pavilion. This central installation challenges white cube norms by recessing paintings into timber niches. The exhibition designers also opened Gagosian's street-facing windows, which symbolically dissolved institutional barriers and extended the Ghanaian courtyard's communal ethos to London's public realm.

In the second gallery, the Nkyinkyim social sculpture reinterprets traditional Adinkra symbolism through a double-sided painting supported by a structural spine, surrounded by woven rattan panels and functional seating that transforms art observation into a collective experience.

Image Credit: Julien Lanoo