By John Owoo
(Accra – Ghana)
Senegalese artist Caroline Gueye will present “Wurus,” an installation linking the celestial origin of gold to Senegal’s history, at the Senegalese pavilion during the 61st edition of the Venice Biennale, which opens on Saturday, May 9, 2026.
Curated by Massamba Mbaye, the exhibition examines issues related to resources, memory, and the construction of gold’s value through a unique scientific and artistic approach – from the cosmic origin of gold to the mechanisms of perception, it brings together fundamental science and aesthetic experience.
In “Wurus” (gold in Wolof), Gueye creates an installation featuring works in polymer, bronze, and brass, prompting a contemporary reflection on resource extraction, environmental issues, and human rights, while also questioning notions of materiality and the perception of value.
Here, gold serves as a point of departure rather than the project’s subject: it enables the unfolding of historical, symbolic, and contemporary dimensions and invites a broader reflection on how the notion of value emerges.
Designed in dialogue with the venue’s architecture, the exhibition reconfigures the space as a perceptual journey in which some works appear through openings, while others are embedded in wall-based devices that engage the body and shift the conditions of perception.
Through these optical and perceptual effects, the artist displaces the question of value: it no longer resides in the object itself but in the gaze that constructs it. For the artist, art emerges from space itself: seeing becomes a physical experience, and the exhibition space becomes integral to the work.
Undeniably, her training in physics, particularly in astrophysics and atomic physics, does not define her practice; rather, it serves as a conceptual tool that supports autonomous artistic inquiry.
Gueye’s international background, enriched by studying Mandarin in China, informs a practice attentive to cultural circulation and to diverse ways of apprehending the world, and asserts a singular artistic approach at the intersection of science, cultures, and contemporary forms.
