What Fabric Holds: A Material Examination of Memory
18 March – 16 April 2026 | KUNSThouse H30, Zurich
KUNSThouse H30 and unx-art present What Fabric Holds, an exhibition featuring six contemporary artists from Nigeria and Sierra Leone. This third Swiss collaboration for unx-art follows the debut of Africa Basel and Regards Croisés in 2025. From 18 March to 16 April 2026, the show brings a material examination of memory to Zurich’s Old Town.
The exhibition is held in a former silk factory, where industrial history meets contemporary inquiry. Artists explore how surfaces carry history through paint, fabric, and structure. Rather than framing geography, the works approach material as substance: layered abstraction as atmosphere, impasto as structure, and architecture as presence.
The curation emphasizes that memory is not merely narrated but materially constructed. The selection considers how pigment and fabric register time through surface construction and spatial logic. This inquiry proposes that history is embedded directly into form; it holds.
The presentation highlights how
Imal Silva (Nigeria/Sri Lanka) uses layered abstraction informed by woven structures. Originally trained in biochemistry, he approaches painting through structural analysis, constructing surfaces marked by controlled drips and palette-knife interventions.
Helen Ogochukwu Nzete (Nigeria) treats surface as architecture through sculptural relief. Recognized at Africa Basel 2025, her mixed-media works navigate the intertwined realms of memory and identity by balancing formal restraint with material density.
John Oyedemi (Nigeria), Head of the Art Department at the University of Jos, captures ceremonial traditions with disciplined impasto. His work focuses on the Durbar, an intangible cultural heritage tradition, transforming rhythmic processions into structured spatial compositions.
Teddy Pratt (Switzerland/Sierra Leone) translates textiles into rigid sculptural forms by saturating fabric in adhesive. His practice examines cultural memory and mourning rituals through material tension and restrained monochromatic palettes.
John Francis Sesay (Sierra Leone) engages urban memory through measured architectural watercolours. A recipient of the International Watercolour Masters Award, he documents historic Freetown landmarks to translate built forms into studies of light and permanence.
Timi Kakandar (Nigeria) examines ceremonial garments as structured fields. Featured in Saatchi Art’s "Next Generation of Master Artists," his work uses dense pigment layering to negotiate identity and the resilience of indigenous visual languages.
Exhibition Details
Vernissage: Wednesday 18 March, 6–9 pm
Surface as Structure: Wednesday 1 April, 6–9 pm
Finissage: Thursday 16 April, 6–9 pm
KUNSThouse H30
Hirschengraben 30, 8001 Zürich
Opened on Fridays: 1 pm – 6:30 pm | Saturdays: 1 pm – 6 pm
Explore the Catalogue
What Fabric Holds: A Material Examination of Memory
18 March – 16 April 2026 | KUNSThouse H30, Zurich
Set within a historic former silk factory, What Fabric Holds explores memory through textile, surface, and ritual form. Featuring six contemporary artists from Nigeria and Sierra Leone, the exhibition proposes that history is materially constructed rather than merely narrated. Here, pigment and gesture transmit memory through spatial logic.
Through the Eyes of Gaga: Louise Metzger & the shaping of modern artistic practice in Sierra Leone
February 14–21, 2026 | unx-art gallery, Leicester Peak, Freetown
Discover the enduring legacy of Louise “Gaga” Metzger, the visionary educator and founder who shaped Sierra Leonean modernism. Explore her textile-inspired monoprints alongside works by the mentees she inspired. This exhibition celebrates artistic transmission, honoring a spirit that built the foundations of our visual culture.
Wetin bɛ: Freetown in Retrospect
October 25–26, 2025 | unx-gallery, Leicester Peak, Freetown
A quiet meditation on Freetown’s disappearing wooden houses—the bod ose built by freed Africans in the late 18th century. In translucent washes of colour, John Francis transforms erasure into memory, painting architecture as living history. Through water and light, he asks a simple question with a heavy echo: Wetin bɛ? — what happened?
See More
Regards croisés: west Africa reflected on lake geneva
July 31 – August 20, 2025 | Clinique de Genolier, Switzerland
An unexpected dialogue between West African contemporary art and Swiss serenity. Eight artists from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo explore resilience, identity, and healing in unx-art’s second Swiss exhibition, set in a space where care and creativity meet.
Africa Basel: Held in memory, Forged in Form
June 18 – 21, 2025 | Ackermannshof, Basel, Switzerland
UNX Art’s exhibition Held in Memory, Forged in Form features Helen Nzete and Clément Gbegno, presenting sculptural and abstract works that reflect themes of memory, disappearance, and emotional restoration.
Matter of Now: 7 Nigerian minds in Freetown
May 16 – 24, 2025 | unx-art Gallery, Freetown, Sierra Leone
A collective exhibition presenting eight Nigerian artists delving into the complexity of the present moment — where memory, culture, and introspection intersect — in unx-art’s debut show at its Freetown gallery.
Giving Goddess: unx-art gallery space debutes
March 20 – April 30, 2025 | unx-art Gallery, Freetown, Sierra Leone
A solo exhibition by Hawa-Jane Bangura, blending digital and traditional media to celebrate African history, femininity, and solidarity. unx-art’s inaugural exhibition in Freetown introduced her empowering vision to a new audience.