Kara Walker: Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine)

Renowned artist Kara Walker's ambitious commission transforms SFMOMA into a landscape of spiritual and technological wonder. Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine) presents a visionary installation where mechanical automatons perform ritual movements within a field of sacred volcanic glass from Northern California, inviting visitors into Walker's meditation on trauma, technology, and collective healing. The work introduces a mystical gardener who interacts with each visitor through scripted gestures, while a robot named Fortuna offers personalized fortunes—drawing on Walker's signature blend of historical critique, imagination, and redemptive possibility. This unprecedented two-year exhibition showcases the artist's continued exploration of power, memory, and transformation, presented alongside documentation of the creative process behind this monumental public artwork.