Leilah Babirye transforms discarded matter into a monumental celebration of queer kinship at ICA Boston.
2 June 2026
At the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Leilah Babirye unveils a powerful new body of work that expands her ongoing exploration of identity, resilience and chosen community. Centred on the idea of the queer wedding, the exhibition gathers an extraordinary cast of sculptural figures into a ceremonial landscape where love becomes both ritual and resistance.
Born in Kampala and now based in New York, Babirye is renowned for transforming discarded materials into striking portraits that honour LGBTQ+ lives. Chains, bicycle gears, rubber tyres and salvaged debris are reimagined as elaborate adornments, merging with carved wood and ceramics to create figures that are at once regal, intimate and defiantly present.
Across the exhibition, brides, grooms, attendants and guardians emerge in a vivid procession, their collective presence evoking both celebration and protection. Monumental heads rise above the gallery while smaller figures stand watch, forming a powerful vision of solidarity and belonging.
Having fled Uganda after being outed as gay, Babirye continues to build a sculptural language rooted in survival, transformation and joy. At ICA Boston, her work offers a compelling reminder that community is not only inherited but continually made, shaped and fiercely defended.
This exhibition is on view at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston until 18 January 2027.
