White Cube presents ‘Afro-Mingei’ by Theaster Gates (b.1973), an exhibition in which two key strands of his work – Japanese philosophy and Black identity – combine.

In the title of the show, the term ‘Afro’ refers to both African-American culture as well as to its iconic hairstyle, re-appropriated during the 1960s and 1970s by Black post-civil rights leadership as a symbol of Black identity and empowerment. The Japanese term ‘mingei’, coined by the philosopher and cultural figure Soetsu Yanagi, along with potters Shoji Hamada and Kanjiro Kawai, denotes folk or craft objects made by local, often unknown craftsmen. For Yanagi, craft challenged conventional ideas of art and beauty since it evolved from traditional practices where the divisions between art, philosophy and religion had merged or disappeared.

It is within this thematic framework that Gates presents a series of objects, installations and interventions that address different ways of looking. Incorporating various elements from Japanese culture such as sakazuki and tatami, with elements from Black culture such as African masks, soul and gospel music, he highlights hybridity as a pathway for new conceptual exploration.

Through adapting, re-forming and hand-crafting materials such as precious hard woods, stone and tar, Gates calls into question the established hierarchies of an object’s value, exposing how they are not just aestheti