Brick-by-brick, Canadian artist Ekow Nimako re-imagined ancient African kingdoms by building and envisioning a journey based off a medieval historic account, but with futuristic elements. And now, his work is on display at the Kelowna Art Gallery.
Titled Building Black Civilizations: Journey of 2,000 Ships, Nimako explored the mysterious 14th-century sea voyage of Mansa Abu Bakr II, the predecessor of Mansa Musa, and ruler of the ancient Mali Empire. On Thursday, May 22, he spoke about his art and creations, which are entirely made out of Lego.
The Toronto artist learned about Bakr II's story from his wife. He was immediately fascinated but at the same time disappointed that he didn't know about the story already. Nimako said these creations came from a desire to discover as he re-imagined a narrative and gave it architecture, substance, and geography. Part of this is also because the end of the journey is not known.
"Most of those stories are based on conquest," said Nimako. "Most of those stories end up with depravity or colonization and this one to me was something that was based on more of like a pure, a pure desire to discover."
Nimako has been creating art with Lego for more than a decade and was inspired by famous Lego builders. He stated there's a difference between the two — he's an artist first, while the material is second. About four years ago, the Lego Group started showing support for his career.
"That has become really, really helpful and it's helped to get my work out in front of so many people, which I absolutely appreciate," said Nimako.
Despite the partnership, the artist confirms none of the Lego pieces are custom. Of the millions of pieces used, they are all standard pieces everybody has access to. Nimako said in his case, he has many Lego pieces that are discounted and those are the hardest ones to find.
"There's a finite amount of those parts existing in the world, but I'm not privy to them in any way more than anyone else, " said Nimako. "Everyone has the access to buy these parts, find them, and collect them."
All of the artwork is built entirely out of black Lego pieces, and Nimako has three reasons for that. The first is that it's practical.
"Black parts are copious and they're diverse," said Nimako. "The Lego group probably makes the most amount of parts in black so if I'm looking for a specific part to achieve a certain kind of artistic goal, odds are that it's going to appear in black."
Black is also his favourite colour, stating that the majority of his wardrobe is black but he also calls it a "sophisticated" colour and is enamoured by it.
"The concept of it is fascinating, too, because it contains everything and nothing at the same time," added Nimako. "You know, when you think about the infinite cosmos and space and black holes, there is something just so expansive about it. But at the same time, it can represent nothingness and shadow and an absence."
The third reason is the most important to him, to represent Black children and make sure their ethnicity is in the forefront.
"I build figurative sculptures, mainly of children, which is that their ethnicity won't be denied because when you're using black parts and you're referring to these sculptures or viewing them, they will always inherently be Black children," said Nimako. "So that reinforcement of their identity, of these characters that I create a lot of the times, which are spiritual entities like Kwaku Enansi or Mami Wata, which are both pretty prominent spiritual entities in African and Afro-diasporic culture, those identities are just fortified when I make them in black."
He said his art also relates to his identity and cultural perspective from growing up in a Gandhian household and experiencing racism growing up and seeing racism in some of the works he loved growing up.
Nimako added building in black takes what he calls the "Legoness" away from the art.
"That's one of the things that Lego parts and Lego building culture is known for, is just having all these colours and all of these textures. But to me, it's always about simplifying. I like to take away and through that process of taking away and stripping away things like colour, you get to see how alive and the various textures that exist with different parts."
Despite the simplicity yet complexities between the pieces and the colour black, Nimako said where the art takes shape is the different textures and nuances of the pieces, whether they are glossy, matte, grainy, or rubberized, the light reflects on the pieces in different ways.
"There's an interplay of light and shadow that happens all throughout the artwork where you're seeing little parts glitter and catch light in certain ways," explained Nimako. "And then you're seeing other parts like draw in light and dull it so those textures are what is appealing to me, not the texture or the idea of using multiple colours, but muting all of that so that there's a stillness. And that is what I think contributes to my work being regarded as what it is, which is contemporary art objects and not like a Lego build."
Because of how big the art is, Nimako admitted there are some other materials to help hold some of the bigger structures together, like a metal rod that runs through a bridge.
The artist said he's worked on his exhibit for thousands of hours over many months. Part of that is he said his creative process "is in flux constantly" and he's had many times where he's changed pieces from one day to the next. He feels like his art is never fully complete because of that.
"I don't often feel like an artwork is completed even when it's completed," said Nimako. "It can go out, it can exhibit, it can be everywhere. But if that artwork finds its way back into my studio, then usually there's going to be something that I'll say that could probably be enhanced by adding this or changing that a little bit, unbeknownst to most people that will see the work."
After mentioning his studio, when asked, Nimako said his studio is pristine and he doesn't step on Lego very often. If there's a piece on the floor, it gets picked up. He said spilling the material is his biggest pet peeve.
Building Black Civilizations originally debuted at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto in 2019. Nimako said the original exhibit didn't have as strong of a narrative as it does now. This exhibit, the Journey of 2,000 ships, debuted at the Dunlop Gallery in Regina, Sask. and Nimako has wanted to tour the exhibit for a while.
The exhibit will be at the Kelowna Art Gallery from May 24 through August 31, and Nimako's hope is when Kelowna residents encounter the artwork, they "imagine beyond what they've often been presented."
"Imagine beyond the stories of history that were taught in school and were told are like the finite stories of history," said Nimako. "There's so many different aspects of cultures around the world that have been silenced, muted, appropriated, stamped out. And, this body of work is in many ways bringing stories into the forefront that have often been forgotten or overlooked. And if it's not that aspect that I want people to walk away with, it's then more focus on the materiality and just what is possible using this material that we all know and love."
As part of the exhibit, there is an “imaginarium area” where guests can use art supplies to sketch their ideas of a world fuelled by their imagination. The Art Lab in the gallery will also be transformed into a “Lego Making Space” where attendees can express their creativity by building their creations.
"I love to see kids want to get out that tactility that LEGO invites because I know if I was seeing this as a kid, I need to play with something, you know, like right away," said Nimako with a laugh.
Additionally, on Wednesday, June 4, the art gallery will be hosting Block & Build: A Lego Night, which is a 19+ event at the gallery that will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. .
The Kelowna Art Gallery is located at 1315 Water St.
