“By rethinking materiality, I bring to the forefront the idea of Africa as the epicenter of an exploitative global economy, as the intersection of capitalism, dispossession, and violation.” (Alisha Hohmann)
The practice of London-born, internationally renowned British-Nigerian artist Ndidi Dike encompasses numerous fields, including mixed media, painting, sculpture, collage, photography, video, and installation art. As one of Nigeria’s leading artists, she addresses social, political, and economic issues of the modern world, and in particular how the experiences of colonialism and postcolonialism, as well as global capitalism, shape contemporary urbanity, coastal, and inland landscapes. https://secession.at/ausstellung_ndidi_dike_leicht
In her work, the artist explores personal archives, the history of enslaved people, questions of memory, identity, migration, displacement, and the legacy of extractive industries. Her projects often unfold over extended periods of research, during which she examines intertwined global histories and the socio-political structures at work within them. Materiality plays a crucial role: the objects and forms bear the traces of their past economic, social, and political lives. By combining found objects, photographs, and sculptural elements, Dike creates works that interweave reality and the imaginary, bringing together images and reference points from diverse cultural contexts. In recent years, she has focused particularly on marketplaces—both as physical spaces and as social and political arenas. Each work is the result of months of research and leads to a selection of materials that reflects the project’s guiding questions.
In Rare Earth Rare Justice , her first major exhibition at an Austrian institution, Dike addresses the ongoing exploitation of Africa’s natural resources, particularly cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Her research traces the links between exploitative industries, ecological destruction, climate change, and the resource-driven conflicts that lead to displacement and humanitarian disasters.
Rare Earth Rare Justice was developed by Ndidi Dike in close collaboration with the Secession. Further chapters will be shown at Färgfabriken in Stockholm in 2026 and at the Zachęta Narodowa Galeria Sztuki in Warsaw in 2027. A new group of works was created jointly by the three collaborating partners.
Programme Opening March 6th
6 pm: Ndidi Dike in conversation with Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, (Director, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin), in English
An event organized by the Secession Friends
7 pm: Opening of the exhibitions by Ndidi Dike, Marianna Simnett, Reba Maybury
7:15 pm: Greetings
9 to 11 pm: Party at SASS Music Club (Karlsplatz 1, 1010 Wien)
From 11 pm: Public club admission at a special price of €5
