Springing forth from the Hyundai Commission: Behind the Red Moon at the Tate Modern, Ghanaian artist, El Anatsui’s After the Red Moon emerges, and embarks on a global tour beginning at Shanghai’s Museum of Art Pudong (MAP) from the 30th of September 2024 till the 7th of October 2025, courtesy of the Tate Gallery.
After the Red Moon, crafted by the renowned Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui, consists of thousands of artfully crumpled and crushed metal bottle tops and fragments, intricately stitched and woven to form a sprawling, abstract tapestry uniting fields of colour, shape, and line. The installation also navigates the intricate dynamics of displacement, migration, and cultural fluidity, weaving together fragments of history, memory, and commerce into an immersive tapestry that probes the lingering legacies of colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade.
Through its suspended forms and symbolic landscapes, Anatsui’s work embodies the bustling flux of human experience, transcending temporal and spatial boundaries to reveal the complex interplay between Africa’s past, its global diaspora, and the resilient cultural identities that have emerged from these intersections.
This grand installation is a testament to Anatsui’s innovative use of discarded materials to create evocative art – through opulent draperies and embroideries. He challenges perceptions of value, beauty, and spotlights environmental sustainability, while encapsulating his ‘non-fixed form’ experimental approach to sculpture.
The Museum of Art Pudong’s presentation of After the Red Moon marks a pivotal moment in the artwork’s global journey, bringing Anatsui’s magnum opus to Chinese audiences for the first time. This sweeping three-act installation – The Waves, The World, and The Wall – delves into architecture, elemental forces, human history, and interconnected geographies.
Act I: The Waves was reimagined specifically for MAP’s waterfront setting, and its location at the graceful bend of the Huangpu River, reflecting the dynamic port cultures and the seafaring voyage of Anatsui’s materials from Ghana to the UK, now arriving in China. Act II: The World introduces translucent sculptures suspended in the entrance hall, representing human figures converging into a circular form that symbolizes the Earth. Ultimately, Act III: The Wall concludes the installation with a colossal floor-to-ceiling black wall in Hall X, resembling crashing waves from the front, while the reverse bursts with colour and texture, evoking a powerful sense of release and optimism.
El Anatsui’s masterpiece transforms MAP’s spaces, being the first installation to extend from Hall X to the entrance lobby, with an immersive soundscape by Ghanaian-British sound artist Peter Adjaye enriching the experience. Throughout its tenure at MAP, After the Red Moon promises to be unforgettable, inspiring reflection on power, dispersion, survival, and the universal bonds that unite us.
Following its Shanghai debut, After the Red Moon will travel to prominent museums worldwide, solidifying El Anatsui’s status as a leading figure in contemporary art.
