Following on in brilliant form this autumn, Ben Brown Fine Arts has just announced yet another impressive show: Ghosts of Empires ll, which is curated by Ghanaian-American curator and cultural critic Larry Ossei-Mensah. Running 15 September – 22 October 2022, the exhibition seeks to explore the intersections, overlaps, and dissonance between the Black Atlantic and Asia Imperialist Trade routes.
Curator Ossei-Mensah is well known for his use of contemporary art as a vehicle to redefine how we see ourselves and the world around us, and for this exhibition was inspired by the formative text by British-Ghanaian author and MP Kwasi Kwarteng, Ghosts of Empire: Britain’s Legacies in the Modern World. Bringing together an extraordinary group of contemporary artists hailing from African and Asian diasporas, the exhibition at its crux is an examination of how they are using their artistic practices as a platform to engage with the legacies of slavery, migration, colonialism, imperialism trade, and sovereignty, in contemporary times. By amplifying the conscious acts of liberation, resistance, and perseverance these communities have exhibited – despite their historical circumstances – Ghosts of Empires ll will provide a forum for a nuanced understanding of their collective diasporic histories.
This seminal exhibition features the work of Hurvin Anderson, Adam de Boer, Delphine Desane, Theaster Gates, Jeanne F. Jalandoni, Tidawhitney Lek, Chris Ofili, Fadekemi Ogunsanya, Maia Cruz Palileo, Miguel Angel Payano Jr., Paul Anthony Smith, Zao Wou-Ki and Livien Yin.
