"I think regions are strong when they maintain strong cultural ties to their past and thus a powerful sense of self. Cultural power leads to other forms of power. So for me culture comes first, and contemporary art is a tool and strategy to uncover the past and develop cultural capital."

"Assemblies are portals where...flora is alive. I am introducing a West African cultural approach to alcohol consumption which is ritual, medicinal, mindful and moderate. My Assemblies are an opportunity to explore the very idea of ‘spirit’. The history of distilled spirits is alchemical and to me occupies a very powerful nexus at which spirituality and science meet...And the events do feel spiritual but they’re also very warm, rigorous and engaging. It is social medicine."

"That’s what it means to be an artist, for me, listening to the land and letting the land tell the stories."

"The fact that (the mask) was heavy was important — I saw information in that. This idea that, here is this material that’s petroleum-based, and I liked the poetry of how it has kind of prevented performance, but that they also look sugary. But the cost is so much more (than the traditional wooden masks). And they also make beautiful pictures quite frankly!"

"It's beholden upon storytellers, whether they are in the media or museum world, to tell deeper stories and to provide a point of connection, and that kind of hasn't really been happening. That’s because you need contemporary artists to go there and (for the institution to) be comfortable with a certain level of subjectivity."

"The prize (Nasher Prize) is awarded to an artist for body of work, for a trajectory, for some sense of promise, for an ability to move the language of sculpture forward, as I think Otobong does, in a very exciting way."

"Nkanga is broadening the concept of sculpture to be a sculpture about the anthropology of materials. Her work has so many trajectories embedded in it, from Arte Povera to tropical architecture."

"Nkanga’s work harnesses sculpture’s capacity to embody experience; uses the Earth’s raw materials to incite feelings such as belonging, nostalgia, retrospection—through objects, through performance, through textiles, drawing, painting, poetry. She affects her audience, while suddenly addressing issues of consumption, globalism, connectivity, and more."

"The work of Otobong Nkanga makes manifest the myriad connections — historical, sociological, economic, cultural and spiritual — that we have to the materials that comprise our lives."

"Otobong Nkanga maps urgent global problems but does so in subtle, enigmatic, and probing ways. She works with materials that draw on many different aspects of the world's resources, and the complex histories of those materials are embedded in her works. The intense and productive way in which she presents formal and material questions is what marks out her huge contribution to sculpture right now."

"Nkanga's work makes clear the essential place of sculpture in contemporary life."

"A young generation will be able to consider the planet we live in and find ways of repair, connection and love.”"

"I think that everybody has, I hope, or tries to in this lifetime, tries to have a passion of something that you wake up in the morning and and you feel motivated by. You feel that it's necessary for it to be in this world and when we don't find that quest, and when we do not know, it leads to many Questions of existence."

"I wasn’t expecting this (winning the Nasher Prize for Sculpture), but I am extremely honored."

"I'm very interested in the microscopic and the general, and how those two things intersect and play roles and expand our understanding of what we are."

"Your ancestors are part of your life in the present, and they are also the ones who show you the way into the future."

"I am interested in this idea of what your perception is and what the reality of material is and what it can become. You realize how materials can relate to what our memory has registered. What happens if we play with that memory — try to break that perception and rediscover the material? If you touch it or smell it, it breaks our preconceived ideas of what it is."

"I don’t like the word “sustainable”, I never did. The whole system has to change."

"I hope that everyone has the opportunity, whatever their work environment may be, to be surrounded by people that they respect and are inspired by."

"When you share something about your adolescence, it's a way to roll over and show your soft underbelly when it comes to talking about your past and the person that you once were"

"If you have a talent, dreams never die…If the talent is there, go for an audition."

"I believe that truth is one of the most powerful tools we possess against victimization, exploitation, and fear."

"Talent isn’t enough. It has to be mixed with hardwork and a one-track mind to keep working against all odds. You must keep working."

"If you’re talented and you’re determined, there’s nowhere determination cannot take you. With God on your side…"

"[Advised by Chaka Khan] She looked into my eyes and she said: "As long as your intent is pure, you will not be denied," and that's something that has stayed with me forever. [...] She was like an angel that was sent from the creative forces of the universe to say: "Hey girl, don't give up.""

"If it is thinkable, it is achievable."

"It is not the profession that makes good or bad husbands and wives, or awful marriages for that matter. What one does has absolutely nothing to do with a marriage being successful or not."

"It is not that writing is easy, but because you do it everyday, it becomes easy."

"Humans are only a small, minute part of the ecosystem, but we as beings have forgotten this."

"I see her (Nkanga) as an artist who works in sculpture, but who works across a variety of mediums and art forms. She produces installations, films, tapestries, drawings, poetry, photography and these are often brought together."

"I know I can opt to go along with death But I decide to wake myself up, the roller blinds are dirty And outside people are walking around who try to set me on fire and go unpunished."

"I get up and watch the end of the slow film with him, the dénouement is a damp squib."

"Be sure of what you want, focus, work hard, be ready to pick yourself up, do not take rejection personally, be as prepared as you can, always be learning, and eliminate negative people from your life regardless of who they are."

"Tolerance and understanding are essential for growth and happiness."

"My good friend is no more; I will miss her personality, talent and humility."

"I still don’t get why good people don’t last. You were a true soul. Beautiful in and out with absolutely no space in your heart to hate or pretend to love."

"Whatever situation you find yourself, know that life will go on; it will only stop when you are tired of going on."

"That humans are just humans. No matter what color or shape they are, they're human."

"Only an insane woman would quit a marriage that is blissful and pleasurable."

"A woman needs a man in her life. There are things a man would do that you cannot do as a woman."

"There are so many different people in the world, and we sometimes struggle because of those differences, but at the end we all try our best to make other people comfortable and compromise so that we can live together."

"Life is interesting when you keep a free mind towards others. When you suspect everyone around you, you cage yourself and your feelings and it means you don’t trust yourself too."

"You don’t really need anybody to pray for you. You can always pray on your own."

"Marriage is a school. Whichever way you find it and whatever experience you had, it is a school. You don't go there to relax."

"Marriage is a relationship just like friendship. So, if you are not getting the best from your friend, it is better and more peaceful to quit."

"The only way to come to a full acceptance and understanding of yourself is to embrace your own culture, quirks and differences while learning about those around you and exploring, incorporating and embracing their cultures, differences."

"Basically, we are all different and we all have something to learn and it doesn't mean people need to change who you are but one should be open to new things."

"It is without a doubt that throughout her career, she has not only been a jurist that other jurists wanted to emulate, but also set standards of professionalism, ethics and legal acuity that people will continually attempt to achieve."

"I trained as a veterinarian but I have evolved, although I still offer services at the teaching hospital as an aquatic veterinarian. In Veterinary Medicine we also have disciplines. For research, I teach at the Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine and I research what we call “one health.” Like every other thing, research evolves, and so I parted with environmental health because that was what I did my PhD on."