The Museum of Modern Art will present Frédéric Bruly Bouabré: World Unbound at The Museum of Modern Art from March 13 through August 13 in the Edward Steichen Galleries. This will be the first in-depth study in the United States of the Ivorian artist who used drawing as a critical tool to invent a writing system.

The exhibition will explore the breadth of Bouabré’s decades-long career, featuring 11 series of drawings totaling more than 1,000 individual works, including his two best-known bodies of work, Alphabet Bété (1990–91) and Connaissance du monde (1987–2008). World Unbound will be organized into two sections and connected with a chronology of the artist’s life and career that will include photographic images and archival materials. Although his work has been featured in major international exhibitions, World Unbound will be the first substantial monographic museum presentation in the US to celebrate Bouabré’s commitment to collecting, preserving, and sharing knowledge as a way of understanding the world around us.