Artist
The Artist:
Kwame Akoto-Bamfo
Kwame Akoto-Bamfo is a versatile Ghanaian artist who is known for his work Nkyinkyim Installation/Museum, cultural activism and contributions to Ghanaian tertiary institutions and traditional communities.
His outdoor sculpture “Nkyinkyim Installation,” dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Transatlantic slave trade, is on display at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. The work is directly connected to a larger installation of the same name made up of over 1,500 portraits of Africans in the Diaspora.
A r t i s t S t a t e m e n t
A Blank Slate Palimpsest
Blank is the slate that we write on, but we see through. We see through palimpsest of millions of civil rights placards begging for a chance to breathe… The rights to breathe.
I sculpt yes, but the statement is not my own. The statement is for the people. The African American people, the black people. And people who want to speak up against the tradition of injustice.
That is why the slate is left blank.
– Kwame Akoto-Bamfo
/ˈpaləm(p)ˌsest/
noun: palimpsest; plural noun: palimpsests
a manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing but of which traces remain.
- something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form.
Connect with us
Blank Slate Tour
CURRENT: GALVESTON, TX
April 5th – July 5th, 2023 ––– Rosenberg Library
HOUSTON, TX
March 4, 2023 – April 4, 2023 ––– Rice University
SELMA, AL
Nov. 21st, 2022 ––– Foot of Edmund Pettus Bridge
Oct. 16th, 2022 ––– ArtsRevive Cultural Center
MONTGOMERY, AL
Sept. 8th – Oct. 16th, 2022 ––– Mothers of Gynecology
June 18th, 2022 ––– Juneteenth at Rosa Parks Museum
April 12th – July 5th, 2022 ––– The Civil Rights Memorial Center, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center
ATLANTA, GA
Aug. 27 – Sept. 4th, 2021 ––– Martin Luther King Center
Charlotte, NC
July 1, 2021 ––– The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts & Culture
Washington, DC
June 29, 2021 ––– We Act Radio
Harlem, NY
June 26, 2021 ––– African Chop House
New York, NY
June 25, 2021 ––– Times Square
Brooklyn, NY
June 24, 2021 ––– Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Pittsburgh, PA
June 20 – 22, 2021 ––– August Wilson African American Cultural Center
Chicago, IL
June 17 – 20, 2021 ––– Dusable Museum
Detroit, MI
June 15 – 16, 2021 ––– Motown Museum
Princeton, IN
June 11 – 12, 2021 ––– Lyles Station Historic Museum
Blank Slate Virtual Town Hall
June 3, 2021 ––– Blank Slate Youtube
Louisville, KY
June 1 – 7, 2021 ––– Kentucky African American Heritage Center
June 8 – 9, 2021 ––– Injustice Square Park
Artist
The Artist:
Kwame Akoto-Bamfo
Kwame Akoto-Bamfo is a versatile Ghanaian artist who is known for his work Nkyinkyim Installation/Museum, cultural activism and contributions to Ghanaian tertiary institutions and traditional communities.
His outdoor sculpture “Nkyinkyim Installation,” dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Transatlantic slave trade, is on display at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. The work is directly connected to a larger installation of the same name made up of over 1,500 portraits of Africans in the Diaspora.
A r t i s t S t a t e m e n t
A Blank Slate Palimpsest
Blank is the slate that we write on, but we see through. We see through palimpsest of millions of civil rights placards begging for a chance to breathe… The rights to breathe.
I sculpt yes, but the statement is not my own. The statement is for the people. The African American people, the black people. And people who want to speak up against the tradition of injustice.
That is why the slate is left blank.
– Kwame Akoto-Bamfo
/ˈpaləm(p)ˌsest/
noun: palimpsest; plural noun: palimpsests
a manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing but of which traces remain.
- something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form.
Blank Slate Tour
CURRENT: GALVESTON, TX
April 5th – July 5th, 2023 ––– Rosenberg Library
HOUSTON, TX
March 4, 2023 – April 4, 2023 ––– Rice University
SELMA, AL
Nov. 21st, 2022 ––– Foot of Edmund Pettus Bridge
Oct. 16th, 2022 ––– ArtsRevive Cultural Center
MONTGOMERY, AL
Sept. 8th – Oct. 16th, 2022 ––– Mothers of Gynecology
June 18th, 2022 ––– Juneteenth at Rosa Parks Museum
April 12th – July 5th, 2022 ––– The Civil Rights Memorial Center, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center
ATLANTA, GA
Aug. 27 – Sept. 4th, 2021 ––– Martin Luther King Center
Charlotte, NC
July 1, 2021 ––– The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts & Culture
Washington, DC
June 29, 2021 ––– We Act Radio
Harlem, NY
June 26, 2021 ––– African Chop House
New York, NY
June 25, 2021 ––– Times Square
Brooklyn, NY
June 24, 2021 ––– Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Pittsburgh, PA
June 20 – 22, 2021 ––– August Wilson African American Cultural Center
Chicago, IL
June 17 – 20, 2021 ––– Dusable Museum
Detroit, MI
June 15 – 16, 2021 ––– Motown Museum
Princeton, IN
June 11 – 12, 2021 ––– Lyles Station Historic Museum
Blank Slate Virtual Town Hall
June 3, 2021 ––– Blank Slate Youtube
Louisville, KY
June 1 – 7, 2021 ––– Kentucky African American Heritage Center
June 8 – 9, 2021 ––– Injustice Square Park