IN CONVERSATION WITH MALLORY LOWE MPOKA, MONTREAL

IN CONVERSATION WITH MALLORY LOWE MPOKA

NIGRA IUVENTA

April 8, 2026

Montreal, Canada

For her first appearance in Canada, Zohra Opoku — leading figure in contemporary African art — sits down with Mallory Lowe Mpoka  for an in-depth conversation. Through photography, textiles, and installation, the Ghanaian-German artist explores notions of identity, memory, and belonging. This conversation, in dialogue with Mallory Lowe Mpoka, will delve into the transmission of diasporic narratives.

Mallory Lowe Mpoka (born 1996) is a Belgian-Cameroonian artist based in Montréal whose multidisciplinary practice explores place, memory, and environmental colonialism.

In response to the fractures imposed by colonization, she weaves together real and fictional narratives by reactivating family archives and memorabilia within renewed contexts. Her work expresses a nomadic state of in-betweenness, moving across Africa, Europe, and North America, and bearing witness to the legacies of migration. Through photography, weaving, sculpture, dyeing, and installation, she develops forms in which material, image, and narrative circulate among the places and memories that inhabit her.

Mpoka’s work has been presented internationally, notably at the Villa Romana (Italy), the National Gallery of Canada, and SAVVY Contemporary (Germany). She published her artist’s book Architecture of the Self: What Lives Within Us in winter 2024. Nominated for the Malick Sidibé Prize (2022) and the New Generation Photography Award (2025), she presents a solo exhibition at Fonderie Darling as part of the 2025 MOMENTA Biennale. Her forthcoming major body of work will be presented starting summer 2026 at Les Rencontres d'Arles.

Her forthcoming major body of work will be presented starting summer 2026 at Les Rencontres d'Arles.

Presented by Nigra Iuventa in partnership with the Goethe-Institut Montreal in collaboration with La Piscine/Espace Rodier.

Curated by Diane Gistal