For the first installment of its MATRIX series since reopening, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive is presenting two performances by Otobong Nkanga. The Nigerian-born, Antwerp-based multimedia artist often makes work that examines the value of natural resources and their relationship to place. Her work also probes the material, natural, and sociopolitical history of Nigeria. Nkanga’s final performance for BAMPFA will be Contained Measures of a Kolanut, on May 14, in the Tropical House at the UC Botanical Garden in Berkeley (200 Centennial Drive). At the performance, Nkanga will lay out tables with diagrams, maps, and images that present the cultural significance and ritual use of the kola nut, a nut that comes from the kola tree indigenous to tropical African rainforests and that is a source of caffeine. From 1–5 p.m., Nkanga will invite visitors to sit with her at the table to engage in conversation and partake in her version of a kola nut ceremony.
