COLUMBUS — The fall art season in Columbus opens with a voice from across the Atlantic. At the Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University, Sammy Baloji: When Extraction Becomes Form, It Speaks in Borrowed Tongues is on view from September 20, 2026 through February 14, 2027 — and gallery admission is free for all audiences.
Baloji, an artist and photographer from the Democratic Republic of Congo, is known for work that digs into the history of his homeland’s Katanga region, long mined for copper and other riches. Through photography, film and installation, he connects the extraction of natural resources with the extraction of images and stories — asking who gets to tell a place’s history, and in whose language.
The Wexner Center commissioned the project, continuing the center’s long record of giving major contemporary artists room to build ambitious, first-of-their-kind exhibitions in Columbus. The show anchors a fall season the Wex celebrated with a public opening celebration on September 18.
For Columbus art lovers, it is a chance to see one of the most talked-about artists working today without leaving the campus district — and for newcomers, the Wex’s striking Peter Eisenman building is worth the trip on its own.
The exhibition runs through February 14, 2027, so there is plenty of time to visit this fall or winter. As always at the Wex, the galleries are free.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
