With the K21 Global Art Award 2025, the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen is honouring the Brazilian artist Tadáskía (*1993 in Rio de Janeiro), whose multi-layered work has attracted international attention. With “brincando animada: travesti mariposa centopeia / animated play: travesti moth centipede”, the exhibition presents a site-specific installation that stages the interplay of drawing and sculpture in a special way. Tadáskía paints a semi-abstract image directly onto the wall and complements it with newly created sculptures made from taboa, a reed-like plant traditionally used in Afro-Indigenous communities. The artist sees her work as an invitation to wander between the familiar and the strange and to question social norms and gender roles. Her works take up Afro-transgender cosmological narratives and bring the past, transformation and self-perception to life.
Drawing takes centre stage: traces of pastel, spray, graphite and charcoal are transformed into mysterious and intimate gestures. The sculptural works from Taboa, which spread out kaleidoscopically in the room, expand the wall drawing and create a sensual reflection on gender fluidity, social attributions and the power of imagination and identity. Tadáskía’s work has already been recognised internationally in renowned institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Bienal de São Paulo. With her perspective, she is now enriching the collection of the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen and making a convincing statement in favour of diversity and contemporary art from Latin America.
