In the first of a new commission series, Somerset House invited Studios resident, British-Ghanaian artist Larry Achiampong, to create a flag to fly over its famous courtyard. Titled PAN AFRICAN FLAG FOR THE RELIC TRAVELLERS' ALLIANCE, Achiampong’s flag explores Afro-futurism and African diasporic identity, and coincides with a wider season of African Art at Somerset House, including 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair.
The flag is an extension of Achiampong’s new multidisciplinary science-fiction project based around his character of the Relic Traveller, a Pan African Unionist of the future on a mission to uncover lost diasporic histories. Achiampong’s live performance Voyage of the Relic Traveller employs spoken word, remixed audio samples and imagery relating the next chapter in the Relic Traveller’s journey.