Barby Asante

In June, Barby Asante will respond to the DOLPH brief. Asante is a London-based artist, curator and educator, concerned with the politics of place, identity and the legacies of colonialism. Asante’s current work, As Always a Painful Declaration of Independence. For Ama. For Aba. For Charlotte and Adjoa, is a performative living archival project created in chapters that take place in various locations. Based on a poem of the same name by Ama

Ata Aidoo, the project records and maps the stories of women of colour as they navigate through their lives, via conversation, sharing food and rituals, reading and creating actions together.

For DOLPH, Asante will organise a series of conversations with local Ghanaian community groups, asking them to contribute to her archive and discuss the issues raised in the poem. She will share musings from the chapter Intimacy and Distance (currently on show at the Diaspora Pavilion in Venice). Asante will also revisit her own archive of practice, delving into her early work about becoming a mother, as well as the collections of ethnographic photos that have mapped out her own creative journey.

The exhibition will open with a private view on Wednesday 31 May, from 6pm. The artist will also be in conversation with the directors of DOLPH on Wednesday 7 June at 7pm.