Karo Akpokiere's art practice reflects his interests in visual communications and storytelling across different cultural and material contexts. Heavily influenced by his graphic design background, he employs varied techniques and media to create work that fuses the experiences and observations he gets from everyday life to tell stories of a personal and/or political nature.
Akpokiere recently started the long-term project An Alternative History of Symbols and Their Meaning which involves using colours and symbols embedded in the coats of arms of federal states, cities, towns, and villages in Germany to depict a fictional state struggling with its identity and the failure of its institutions. It touches on issues of appropriation, production of meaning, reverse ethnology, and the role of fiction in shaping contemporary realities.
Akpokiere's work has appeared extensively in international exhibitions including the 17th Triennial of Tapestry, Lodz (2022), Biennial Sesc_Videobrasil, Sao Paulo (2017), and the 56th edition of La Biennale di Venezia, Italy (2015). He has also worked on projects for Moncler, Italy, Nike Europe, Google, San Francisco, and WeTransfer, Amsterdam.
Karo Akpokiere lives and works in Hamburg, Germany.
For a detailed exhibition, work, and publication history, please click CV
For a detailed exhibition, work, and publication history, please click CV
Photo: Dagmara Wojtanowicz