We are delighted to share that the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art has acquired Akua’s Surviving Children (1996) by El Anatsui. The work is now featured in the museum’s newly unveiled exhibition of over 130 pieces.

During a visit to Denmark in 1996, Anatsui discovered driftwood washed ashore in Hellebæk. The weathered logs immediately evoked, for him, the people torn from West Africa by the Danish slave trade — “torn from their land source into wild, hostile sea, tossed about, eventually returning to land with experiences of their ordeal.” Over the following days, he gathered more than thirty logs, creating a powerful memorial to a clan of survivors.

Nearly three decades later, the installation returns to Denmark’s coastline—now in the care of Louisiana Museum—where its origin and meaning resonate even more deeply.

Join Govinda Sah ‘Azad’ in discussion with Dr. Katie Hill, Academic Lead, Asia and Senior Lecturer at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, on the occasion of his solo exhibition, Journey to the Heart of Light at October Gallery.

This exhibition highlights Sah’s latest large-scale oil and acrylic paintings on canvas and presents selected smaller scale works. Journey to the Heart of Light weaves together the artist’s personal journeys through both inner and outer realms. Beginning his artistic career in the Himalayan mountains close to where he was born, Sah first moved to London to study at Wimbledon College of Arts, before moving from London to Margate, where he recently opened a purpose-built studio.

The conversation will examine Sah’s creative process and unpack the influence of the different environments that the artist has lived in upon his artistic progress.

The talk takes place on the gallery’s ground floor and has disabled access.

Throughout December, enjoy 25% off all available exhibition catalogues in our online store.

Use the coupon code octobergallery2025 to apply the discount.

This includes the newly published El Anatsui: Go Back and Pick, featuring a text by Gus Casely-Hayford. The catalogue traces Anatsui’s remarkable artistic trajectory — from his early explorations in wood to the monumental, genre-defining metal works that have transformed the landscape of contemporary sculpture.

Tate Modern presents Nigerian Modernism, a landmark exhibition celebrating the artists who transformed modern art in Nigeria during the mid-20th century. The exhibition will include some of El Anatsui’s early wooden wall-hanging sculptures, such as Leopard's Paw Prints and Other Stories.

Created throughout the 1980s and 90s, these remarkable relief works reveal the beginnings of Anatsui’s signature style. Using richly hued tropical hardwoods—variously charred, carved and painted—the artist forged wall-hangings that occupy a space between painting and sculpture, anticipating the shimmering metal tapestries for which he later became renowned.

View photographs and watch the Cocktail Preview Opening Speeches, whilst immersed in a explorable, high resolution recording of the exhibition
El Anatsui: 'Go Back and Pick'

October Gallery and the Café will close for the winter holidays from Tuesday, 23rd December, 2025, and will reopen to the public on Tuesday, 6th January, 2026.

Wishing everyone a joyful holiday season!

Next spring, Yorkshire Sculpture Park will present Rise, the first solo museum exhibition by LR Vandy. Through her distinctive use of rope and found materials, Vandy transforms everyday objects into powerful reflections on migration, resilience and global interconnectedness.

Much of the rope featured in the exhibition draws on her proximity to the Historic Dockyard in Chatham—home to the UK’s last working Ropery, where rope has been produced using the same techniques for over four centuries.