Curating Constellations: London and Accra in Dialogue

Offering a glimpse into the process of curating an exhibition, curators Katherine Finerty, Tracy Naa Koshie Thompson and Nuna Adisenu-Doe, take us on a meandering journey that explores the dialogue between London and Accra’s creative ecosystems.

Constellations is a sister-city research and exhibition project taking its point of departure from the exchange between Gallery 1957’s homes in London and Accra. Like any tentacular creature, its many limbs reach outward, making contact with infinite combinations of places and peoples. With this greater translocal ecosystem in mind, and in the spirit of our co-curatorial ethos of knowledge-sharing and world-building, we welcome you into our transmuted, multilayered research process.

Relying on different annotation applications and design interfaces – from note-taking phone apps to raster graphics computer editors – each of us capture and communicate the fragments of our studies, artist studio visits, and stories that traveled across two different cities in the same undulating time zone. And every so once in a while, our exquisite corpses share space and radiate.

Lois Selasie Arde-Acquah studio visit 21.01.23

A non-stop type of making
Production devoid of machinery or tech
A spontaneous-style performance of a laborious nature
Not space restricted in terms of production and making
The idea of a sustainable daily ritual that keeps on and on

·   Repetition
·   Labour
·   Process
·   Spontaneity, Randomness

1.  Please send Lois dimensions of the porch space in the London gallery
2. Can we do an installation on the pillars and on the façade of the exterior?
3. Coordinate with Albert (1957) to collect a works from Lois, Date and Address TBD

Lisa C Soto studio visit 21.01.23

A FIGURE ON EARTH AND BEYOND

Interactive & Participatory installation “Asking the Plants” that stimulates multiple senses
Lemon grass tea served from Lisa’s garden
Flags that have images of medicinal plants and their translations in multiple local languages

·   Silkscreen printing with Acrylic Paste
·   Colour-coded flags
·   Abandoned Salvadorian Church, 500 year old Creeping tree (_________?) Lisa smears clay from Brazil all over her body to blur and distort the sense of seeing

CONSTELLATION installation work

1.  0.5mm Fishing line. Cut off extra fishing line of the installation
2. Brass, copper, steel, earth, soil, mineral, energies.

Story…

Near the Accra-Kumasi Highway, the climax of our studio visit was with joy at Lisa’s charming home. Amidst the lush garden in her front yard, Erin, Tracy, Katherine, Lisa, and Nuna engaged in an array of vibely board games. Nuna, the master mixologist of the group, whipped up delightful cocktails using whatever goodies he could find in Lisa’s Kitchen, including a “killer” locally-distilled rum courtesy of the generous Kari. As the laughter and merriment filled the air, Nuna’s shining moment came when he decided to conquer the art of the hula hoop!

The Constellations project launches in London with Part 1: Figures on Earth & Beyond, open now and continuing until 25th May 2024 at Gallery 1957. Artists include Adelaide Damoah, Alberta Whittle, Andrew Pierre Hart, Ayesha Feisal, Ayomide Tejuoso (Plantation), Denyse Gawu-Mensah, Henry Hussey, Johannes Phokela, Larry Amponsah, Lisa C Soto, Lois Selasie Arde-Acquah, Modupeola Fadugba, Phoebe Boswell, Rashaad Newsome, Sarah Meyohas, and Zak Ové. Part 1 will include talks, workshops, performances, and sound sets throughout the duration of the exhibition.

References:
Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower, 1993
Homi K. Bhabha, The Location of Culture, 1994
Maurizio Lazzarato, The Intolerable Present, the Urgency of Revolution, 2023
Donna J. Haraway, Staying with the Trouble, 2016
Donna J. Haraway, The Companion Species Manifesto, 2010



Feature image: Alberta Whittle, Listening for all that has been forgotten, 2023, Digital collage on brushed aluminium, 80 x 120 cm