Larry Achiampong – Pan African Flags For the Relic Travellers’ Alliance
Various Locations: St. George’s Hall; St. John’s Gardens; Liverpool Central Library; Liverpool ONE; Exchange Flags; Liverpool Parish Church; Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Building; Edmund Gardner Vessel; Cunard Building; St. Luke’s, Bombed Out Church
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Larry Achiampong presented a series of Pan-African flags on buildings and streets across Liverpool city centre. Featuring 54 stars that represent the 54 countries of Africa, the flags evoke solidarity and collective empathy – while some of their locations speak to Liverpool’s connection with the enslavement of West Africans as part of the transatlantic slave trade. The colours of the flags reflect Pan-African symbolism: green, black and red represent, respectively, Africa’s land, people and the struggles the continent has endured, while yellow-gold represents a new dawn and prosperity. Achiampong has configured these colours into forms that are suggestive of community, motion and the human figure in ascension. For Liverpool Biennial 2021, four of the artist’s flags from his original series were shown – Ascension, Community, Motion and Squadron – as well as four new flag designs – Dualities, Bringers of Life, Mothership and What I Hear I Keep.
