Building Black Civilizations: Journey of 2,000 Ships
Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna, BC - To Aug 24
“Growing up, I was always a world builder,” says Toronto-based Afro-futurist Ekow Nimako in a 2024 video profile from the Aga Khan Museum’s Art Lives series. “So whenever I was playing with any toy, or drawing, or watching cartoons, I would always be imagining what that world looks like.” One of Nikamo’s more recent worlds is based on the travels of Mansa Abu Bakr II, the 14th-century predecessor of Mansa Musa, ruler of the ancient Mali Empire.
According to legends, Abu Bakr, upon abdicating his throne, set out with 2,000 ships with the intention of crossing the Atlantic—and was never heard from again. Speculation varied, with some believing that Abu Bakr and his fellow travellers reached the Americas. Drawing on African architecture and historical records, Nimako recreates Abu Bakr’s voyage using his preferred medium: black LEGO.
“It’s a really pliable material,” says Nikamo, “but it can be really quite rigid, and there’s a system involved. I don’t cheat, I don’t just put things where I want—and even though I use glue, the glue is only there to reinforce an actual LEGO connection.” As for why he works in black? “It’s a three-part answer… One, I like black. Two, black is versatile when it comes to my chosen material, meaning that I can pretty much find every part in black, where that doesn’t necessarily apply for all the other colours. And the third, is when I build children out of LEGO when I’m using black, when describing the children, they’ll always still be Black children, and that way their ethnicity can never be denied.”
This exhibition is organized by the Dunlop Art Gallery and curated by Alyssa C. Fearon.
Block & Build: A LEGO Night at the Gallery, a 19+ ticketed event June 4, 6–8pm
