Gallery 1957

Langlands & Bell 

The Past Is Never Dead...

Opening on 20 May 2021, Gallery 1957, Accra presents a solo exhibition by artist duo Langlands & Bell. Titled, “The Past is Never Dead...” the exhibition explores the architecture of the ‘Slave Forts’ built on the coast of Ghana by European traders following the construction of Elmina Castle by the Portuguese in 1482. Ben Langlands & Nikki Bell have conducted extensive research into Ghana’s historic European-built coastal architecture. Created as fortified trading posts, these structures quickly became 'slave dungeons’, holding thousands of captives in appalling conditions before they were sold, and shipped in chains to the Americas for a life of bondage and servitude. Today the forts bear witness to a shared history linking West Africa, the Americas, and Europe, a history the artists describe as largely forgotten or ignored, subject to a “kind of willful amnesia,” especially in Europe. Through site-exploration across Ghana, and further research at the Furley Collection, Balme Library, University of Legon, Accra, the Dutch National Archives, in The Hague, and The National Archives in London, their work for this exhibition reflects the artists’ continuing interest in the role strategic architecture plays in shaping all of our lives. Working in a range of mediums and in collaboration with local artisans, Langlands & Bell will present a series of video, sculpture and appliqué works, some featuring the ground plans of the historic forts which bear similarity with Adinkra symbols - a traditional Akan visual language used extensively in Ghanaian fabrics and pottery. Restructuring the gallery space itself, the installation confronts the visitor to the exhibition with the ‘Door of No Return’ modelled on the door at Elmina Castle which marked the final departure point of enslaved people from Ghana.