Constellations Part 1: Figures on Earth & Beyond

14 Mar-25 May 2024

PV 14 Mar 2024, 6-9pm

Overview

Gallery 1957 is proud to present its sister-city exhibition project, Constellations, opening in London with Part 1: Figures on Earth & Beyond on 14th March. Coinciding with the Gallery’s 8-year anniversary, this multimedia exhibition brings together emerging and established artists from within the gallery’s programme and beyond, celebrating the creative communities in Ghana and the UK, and cultural exchanges across the planet.

Artists participating in this group show include first-time collaborators of the Gallery; Adelaide Damoah, Alberta Whittle, Andrew Pierre Hart, Ayesha Feisal, Ayomide Tejuoso (Plantation), Denyse Gawu-Mensah, Henry Hussey, Lisa C Soto, Phoebe Boswell, Rashaad Newsome, and Sarah Meyohas, as well as long-term collaborators and artists in residence; Johannes Phokela, Larry Amponsah, Yaa Asantewaa Art Prize winner Lois Selasie Arde-Acquah, Modupeola Fadugba, and Zak Ové.

Co-curated by Katherine Finerty, Nuna Adisenu-Doe, and Tracy Naa Koshi Thompson, the Constellations project brings to life models of knowledge-sharing for contemporary exhibition making, public gathering, and world building. It takes as its point of departure the exchange between the Gallery’s homes in London and Accra in the context of a greater translocal creative ecosystem. Each multimedia programme will respond to its unique location, bringing together artists considering their own natural and artificial habitats in immersive site-specific installations to foster a spirit of place.

In line with ecofeminist scholar Donna Haraway, Constellations Part 1: Figures on Earth & Beyond rejects the concept of the Anthropocene Epoch, a term referring to the current geological age centred on the idea that human activity is the dominant influence on the Earth. The exhibition concept repositions humans as part of a larger collective ecosystem, critically examining structures of power, memory, and agency by activating enduring and transcendent global narratives from origin stories to science fiction. In a time where radically reimagining inter-species inhabitation is nothing short of vital, we welcome all artists and audiences to imagine new futures and pose solutions for a regenerative world.

Constellations Part 2 will take place later this year at Gallery 1957 in Accra, Ghana, establishing an interconnected portal exploring the intricate relationships between myth and science alongside the ecological dynamics embedded in cultural narratives.