Last weekend, I gave a talk at MK Gallery titled “To Improvise An Archive”, inspired by and in response to their current exhibition, “To Improvise A Mountain”, curated by the acclaimed British-Ghanaian figurative painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. It brought the women from the “A Women’s Oral History Of West Africa” archive into conversation with artists and artworks featured in the exhibition, including Barbara Chase-Riboud, Glenn Ligon, Lisa Brice, Zoe Leonard and, of course, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. 

Thank you to everyone who came out and made it such a beautiful evening of community and conversation. The turnout was far more than I expected, and it was lovely to see so many family groups (a wonderfully curious five-year-old!), older people, and everyone in between, including some who’d travelled from afar. Everyone was engaged, and after the talk, many stayed for a workshop, which sparked intimate conversations among people from different backgrounds and generations who didn’t know each other. 

As I was leaving, an 85-year-old white British woman told me that she identified with the stories and struggles of her West African peers, and the event made her realise that women face the same struggles the world over. Her comment, among many others throughout the night, made my evening and reinforced, in a new way, the unifying value of this project, especially in times like these.

I look forward to more events and encounters throughout the year.