Em'kal Eyongakpa was born in Mamfe, Cameroons and is a Dutch resident, currently based in Amsterdam. He approaches experienced, unknown and collective histories through a ritual use of repetition and transformation. His recent ideas increasingly draw from indigenous knowledge systems and aesthetics, ethnobotany, applied mycology and technology through his explorations of the personal and the universal. In 2019, The Showroom presented Tahjèsè #3i / barɨŋ báchɔ́kɔrɔk #4, an immersive sculptural environment and his first solo commission in the UK.
He is also known for self-organised community research spaces and autonomous art hubs, from KHaL! SHRINE in Yaounde (2007-2012) to the recent research platform/ fund Bɔ́ Bɛtɔk / ɛfukuyu. Eyongakpa holds degrees in Plant biology and Ecology from the University of Yaounde 1, Cameroon, and was a resident at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. His work has recently been exhibited at the Jakarta Biennale (2017), 13th Sharjah biennial (2017), La Biennale de Montreal (2016), 32nd Bienal de Sao Paulo (2016), 9th and 10th Bamako Encounters (2011, 2015), 10th Dak'art Biennale (2012) and several international art spaces and museums around the world.
