Image: Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
Leilah Babirye’s ‘Embaga ya Naki ne Naki (Wedding of Naki and Naki)’ is now on view at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, presenting a newly commissioned body of ceramic and wood sculptures organized around the idea of a queer wedding. The exhibition runs from August 27, 2026, through January 18, 2027, in the Fotene Demoulas Gallery.
Babirye’s installation treats the wedding as both ceremony and celebration. Individual sculptures take on the roles of bride, groom, ring bearer, flower girl, bridesmaid, and groomsman, creating a gathering of adorned sculptural figures rather than a conventional display of discrete objects. Large-scale sculptures carved from charred wood surround the central event, representing the aunties, uncles, and ancestors who have appeared throughout the artist’s practice.
Born in Kampala, Uganda, in 1985, Babirye is known for combining carved wood and ceramics with found and discarded materials. At the ICA, the works incorporate elements including bicycle gears and chains, which the artist uses to make elaborate headdresses and jewelry, alongside rubber bicycle inner tubes that become long, hair-like forms. Burnt-black wood and brightly glazed ceramic surfaces bring contrasting textures and colors into the installation.
The exhibition’s focus on a queer wedding continues Babirye’s commitment to uplifting LGBTQ identities through sculpture. The ICA’s exhibition materials state that Babirye fled Uganda after being outed as gay. Within the installation, the wedding becomes a framework for assembling chosen and ancestral forms of kinship, with the ceremony observed by figures connected to the artist’s longstanding imagery of family and lineage.
The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, founded in 1936 as the Boston Museum of Modern Art, is one of the oldest museums dedicated to contemporary art in the United States. It adopted its current name in 1948 and has operated across 13 locations before establishing its waterfront museum building in 2006. Babirye’s exhibition is organized by Ruth Erickson, the ICA’s Barbara Lee Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, with Max Gruber, Curatorial Assistant.
A book accompanying the exhibition will be Babirye’s first publication. Public programming includes ‘The Artist’s Voice: Leilah Babirye with Ruth Erickson’ on November 12 at 7 p.m., followed by a gallery talk by Erickson on December 13 at 2 p.m. Major support for the exhibition is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, with additional support from Mathieu O. Gaulin and the Jennifer Epstein Fund for Women Artists. ‘Embaga ya Naki ne Naki (Wedding of Naki and Naki)’ remains on view in Boston through January 18, 2027.
