This month marks an important moment for the Kenyan-American artist Wangechi Mutu as she becomes the first living artist to present a solo exhibition at the opulent Galleria Borghese, Rome taking over the entire 17th century villa and gardens with a solo exhibition titled Black Soil Poems, supported by FENDI. The gallery’s famous collection of art and its architecture have been transformed into a platform for Mutu’s site-specific sculptures, installations and moving image works, suspended to inhabit the space in ethereal and phantasmagical ways. Mutu is celebrated for her sculptures and installations exploring race, gender, colonialism and environmental issues and this show is equally charged with those themes and tensions. The title of the show evokes the duality of Mutu’s work, rooted in ancient ideas but utterly connected to the current social and material context. Black soil refers to the rich matter found in many places, including the Secret Gardens of Galleria Borghese. The show extends to the American Academy in Rome, where this work can be found: Shavasana I. The reclining bronze figure, covered by a woven straw mat, takes its name from the yoga pose “shavasana” (corpse pose) and is inspired by a real-life incident. Situated in the Academy’s beautiful atrium, surrounded by ancient Roman funerary inscriptions, it evokes universal themes of death and surrender. The exhibition runs in Rome to 14 September, 2025.

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