PILLAR 05 · COLLECTORS

A civilization is judged by what it refuses to abandon.

Orphan Matter's role with collectors is the same as its role with institutions: commissions and collaborations, not general representation. What follows are the current catalogues for the platform's two founding artists, works already collected and works still available, with the material history and dimensions behind each piece.

For acquisitions, commissions or further documentation, get in touch.

CATALOGUE

Maurice Mbikayi

Each work accompanied by a signed certificate of authenticity.

Maurice Mbikayi sculpture: Girl with a Leather Toy 2, installed, a figure with a globe head holding a small doll

Maurice Mbikayi work: a woven wall panel of computer cables, part of the Fractal Series

Maurice Mbikayi wearable sculpture: Techno Hat, a hat assembled from computer keys, worn during performance

Maurice Mbikayi wearable sculpture: Techno Jacket, a jacket assembled entirely from computer keys

Maurice Mbikayi photographic print: Self-Portrait 5

Maurice Mbikayi photographic print: Mask of Heterotopia 1

Maurice Mbikayi photographic print: Looking Through the Veil

Maurice Mbikayi photographic print: Web-Jacket 1

Maurice Mbikayi photographic print: Web-Jacket 2

Maurice Mbikayi photographic print: Self-Portrait 2

Maurice Mbikayi photographic print: Self-Portrait 3

Maurice Mbikayi photographic print: The Political Aesthete 3

Maurice Mbikayi photographic print: Untitled 1

Maurice Mbikayi mixed-media work: Digital DNA 1, leather and computer keys on canvas

Maurice Mbikayi mixed-media work: Digital DNA 2, leather and computer keys on canvas

Maurice Mbikayi mixed-media work: Digital DNA 3, leather and computer keys on canvas

Maurice Mbikayi mixed-media work: Urban Utopia 3, leather, computer keys and mouse on canvas

Maurice Mbikayi sculpture: Techno Dandy #10 (Surviving a Hostile Environment), a carved figure and hound made from wood, computer parts, fiberglass and resin

ARTIST STATEMENT

I re-appropriate discarded computer parts to create sculptural and wearable works that imagine new futures from technological waste. These materials, often e-waste from the Global North, carry hidden histories and environmental costs, especially in Africa, where they're too often dumped under the guise of donation.

Through my Techno Dandy characters, I explore resilience, reinvention, and identity in the face of crisis. The works act as both protection and provocation: pseudo-cyborgs rising from the ruins of consumerism. Each piece carries traces of its past users, layered with my own story, proposing new narratives from what has been left behind.

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

The Deutsche Bank AG Collection (private view), the “Mbikayi” room, London Branch
The National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington
The Pérez Art Museum, Miami
Irma Stern Museum, University of Cape Town
Stellenbosch University
The Iziko South African National Gallery
Galila's P.O.C Collection
The Kilbourn Collection
The Scheryn Art Collection
Progressive Art Collection, Mayfield Village, Ohio
Spier Arts Trust
Hollard Corporate, Johannesburg
The Development Bank of South Africa, Midrand
Nando's Collections: South Africa, United Kingdom, United States, Australia