The first edition of Archival Constellations brings Angel-Akua Taiwo and Kwame Crentsil to CCA Lagos for a year of research into institutional memory, Bisi Silva’s curatorial legacy, and the histories preserved within the Centre’s archives.
Archives are more than repositories of documents. They are spaces where histories are preserved, narratives are constructed, and questions of visibility, representation, and institutional memory emerge. At CCA Lagos, these questions form the foundation of Archival Constellations, a three-year archival residency project examining how archives shape our understanding of cultural institutions and the histories they hold.
The first edition of the residency brings together Angel-Akua Taiwo and Kwame Crentsil for a year of research and critical engagement with the curatorial legacy of Bisi Silva, the late founder of CCA Lagos, and the Centre’s exhibition and administrative archives.
Revisiting Bisi Silva’s Curatorial Legacy
Year One of Archival Constellations focuses on the histories, voices, and narratives embedded within CCA Lagos’s institutional records. Through the examination of exhibition documentation, administrative materials, and other archival resources, the residency offers an opportunity to revisit the ideas, relationships, and curatorial approaches that have shaped the Centre’s history.
Central to this inquiry is the legacy of Bisi Silva (1962–2019), whose work as a curator, writer, and institution-builder contributed significantly to the development of contemporary art in Africa and its international networks. Through her leadership at CCA Lagos, Silva created platforms for artistic experimentation, critical exchange, and the development of curatorial practice.
Engaging with the Centre’s archives allows this legacy to be explored beyond established accounts, opening up questions about how institutional histories are documented, whose contributions are remembered, and what remains to be discovered within the records.
Archives as Living Spaces of Inquiry
Rather than approaching the archive as a static collection of historical materials, Archival Constellations considers it an active site of research, interpretation, and discovery. Institutional records can reveal not only what has been preserved but also what has been overlooked, how particular narratives have taken shape, and where gaps in the historical record invite further investigation.
Through their research, Angel-Akua Taiwo and Kwame Crentsil engage with the exhibition and administrative archives of CCA Lagos, examining how these materials contribute to the understanding of the Centre’s institutional formation and its place within broader cultural histories.
Their work forms part of an ongoing conversation about the responsibilities of cultural institutions in preserving their histories and making archival resources meaningful to present and future generations.
Looking Beyond the Records
As Archival Constellations unfolds, the residency creates space for new perspectives on CCA Lagos’s history and the curatorial legacy of its founder. By returning to existing records and asking new questions of the archive, the project seeks to deepen understandings of institutional memory while considering how histories are carried forward.
The residency also reflects the continuing importance of archival research in contemporary art: not simply as a means of looking back, but as a way of understanding the present and imagining what future histories might hold.
Through Archival Constellations, CCA Lagos continues to engage with its institutional history as a resource for critical reflection, knowledge production, and the ongoing interpretation of contemporary art in Africa.
About Archival Constellations
Archival Constellations is a three-year archival residency project exploring institutional memory, institutional formation, and the role of archives in shaping cultural narratives. Its first year focuses on the curatorial legacy of Bisi Silva and the exhibition and administrative archives of CCA Lagos.
