Following the 2023 exhibition “Giuseppe Penone: Universal Gestures” and 2024’s “Louise Bourgeois: Unconscious Memories,” FENDI once again sponsors Rome’s Borghese Gallery to present a solo exhibition by Kenyan-American artist Wangechi Mutu titled Black Soil Poems, running now through September 14, 2025. Curated by Cloé Perrone, this exhibition continues FENDI’s commitment to promoting contemporary art through the vision of internationally acclaimed artists.
Wangechi Mutu is the first living female artist to hold an exhibition at the Borghese Gallery. Created specifically for the museum, the show features a diverse array of works installed throughout the gallery’s interior spaces, exterior walls, and secret garden. Utilizing suspension, fragmented reconstruction, and reimagined mythological narratives, the exhibition challenges classical traditions. The exhibition extends to the American Academy in Rome, where additional installations foster a cross-venue artistic dialogue.
To celebrate this significant event—part of FENDI’s ongoing collaboration with the museum—the artist has teamed up with FENDI to create a unique Wangechi Mutu x FENDI Peekaboo bag. Resembling a sculptural artwork, the bag reflects her poetic and mythologically rich creative vision. Incorporating diverse techniques and materials including gold leaf, the piece offers a richly layered visual and tactile experience. The bag’s surface depicts two personally meaningful landscapes: the Ngong Hills and Mount Kenya. From inside the bag emerges a sculptural installation of wooden branches, bursting forth like life itself.
