Larry Achiampong

Born 1984 | London
Lives and works London

Larry Achiampong is a British-Ghanaian artist whose solo and collaborative projects employ film, still imagery, aural and visual archives, live performance, objects, and sound. Reliquary 2 2020 is a meditation on a period of separation between Achiampong and his children. Speaking directly to his children in contemplative prose, the artist observes his own familial narrative and the trauma of forced isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic. Ancestry and familial relationships are integral to Achiampong’s examination of postcolonial identities. While previously he has revisited memories of the past with his mother, this piece is consciously projected towards the future, using the present to provide and shape a dialogue with his offspring.

Larry Achiampong, Reliquary 2 2020. Single-channel video, colour, sound. 12 mins, 55 secs. Courtesy the artist and Copperfield Gallery. Commissioned by John Hansard Gallery 2020. Film still. Image courtesy the artist