When the Sky Falls is Larry Achiampong’s most ambitious and personal show to date. Featuring new moving image, sound and sculptural installations, this exhibition transforms John Hansard Gallery into a purgatorial space based on childhood ruminations, Akan deities and unearthed histories.
Complementing the main exhibition on the Digital Array is Sunday’s Best, a short film that considers how belief systems within the African diaspora are influenced by colonial histories. Additionally, the gallery’s exterior windows have been covered by Achiampong’s PAN AFRICAN FLAG FOR THE RELIC TRAVELLERS’ ALLIANCE (MOTION), with their symbolic Pan African colour palette featuring 54 stars relating to each African country forming part of Achiampong’s expansive multi-disciplinary Relic Traveller project.
When the Sky Falls is a title that speaks of creation myths, folklore and the singsong refrains embedded in children’s stories. All of which are ways that we (across generations) have tried to make sense of the world and what has in recent moments felt like “the end of days”.
Larry Achiampong is represented by Copperfield Gallery.
