Have you ever heard of Afrogallonism? Discover what this artistic concept created by Serge Attukwei Clottey is all about at the Antoni Tàpies Foundation starting this July. As the foundation closes to prepare for one of the major Tàpies Year exhibitions, the artist has been invited to cover the façade of the proto-modernist building on Carrer d’Aragó with tesserae (the square or cubic pieces of a mosaic), like those he uses in his creations. They are all the same yellow as the plastic containers used to recycle cooking oil. He has made the tesserae you will see from these recycled containers as an invitation to think about recycling, the environment and our way of life. This is an artist who lives between Labadi (near Accra, the capital of Ghana) and Los Angeles, and whose creations have explored what he calls Afrogallonism. This concept refers to the search for the relationship between the yellow fuel containers, or gallons, of his city, which feature prominently in his work, and the consumption and needs of modern Africa. The artist, who has used installation, performance, photography and sculpture in his work, is the founder of Ghana’s GoLokal, an organisation that seeks to transform society through art.
His work has implications that relate to colonialism and its legacy in the world today, as we will see on 2 July with the opening of his installation on the Foundation’s façade. Serge Attukwei Clottey will take participants on a performative stroll that will leave from the Antoni Tàpies Foundation at 7 pm, crossing Passeig de Gràcia, passing some of Barcelona’s colonial buildings and ending in the gardens of the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya. Attukwei Clottey will be responsible for the visual and sound elements of the stroll, and he will be accompanied by around 20 people, including students from the EINA design school and people involved in the Periferia Cimarronas project, as well as anyone from the general public who wants to join them. When they arrive at the Teatre Nacional, the festivities will end with a concert in the gardens of the Teatre Nacional by Momi Maiga, a Senegalese musician, singer and composer who lives in Catalonia and is an expert in performing with the kora.
Finally, Serge Attukwei Clottey himself will perform one of the site-specific sound creations that characterise his work at the Periferia Cimarronas on 3 and 4 July.
Produced by the Antoni Tàpies Foundation.
A project curated by Imma Prieto, director of the Antoni Tàpies Foundation.
Artistic creation: Serge Attukwei Clottey
