Archipelago: ​Visions in Orbit

The archipelago is diffracted, fractal, necessary in its totality, fragile or contingent ​in its unity, passing through and remaining, it is a state of the world.

Édouard Glissant

An archipelago is a cluster of islands demarcated by geo-political borders, yet ​linked through subaqueous landmass. Using the archipelago as a metaphor, the ​curatorial team have brought together a selection of contemporary myth-makers, ​dreamers and artistic documentarians, each offering a unique perspective on our ​shared cultural fabric.

This can be seen in the ethereal vessels and portals of Esther Teichmann and the ​enigmatic leather masks of Jakob Rowlinson. Elsewhere themes of emergence ​and reflection course through the works of Jade de Montserrat and Cameron ​Ugbodu, while histories of migration and belonging are echoed in the works of ​Daniella Valz Gen and Güler Ateș.

Aptly positioned in Whitechapel - a place that has and continues to see the ​coming together of migrant communities in a time of political polarisation - this ​exhibition allows a space for complex differences to coalesce by acknowledging ​an underlying connectivity.

The exhibition is curated by Gözde Altun, Eve Barnes, Molly Clark, Maria Green, ​Parastoo Jafari, Hannah Lewis, Kuba Ocean, Yasmin Riley, Angela Sanchez-​Castrillon, Benjamin Sebastian, Ajahee Sekkm-Miles, Cosima Straub and Hannah ​Walker.