An enormous sculpture made from 100,000 Lego bricks has been acquired by the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.
The artwork, dubbed Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE, is Ghanaian-Canadian artist Ekow Nimako's futuristic reimagining of the presently-ruined medieval town in south east Mauritania. The site is believed to have been the capital of the Ghana Empire, which flourished in West Africa between the 6th and 13th centuries, and was a trans-Saharan trade hub promoting cultural exchanges between Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe.
Nimako's works often use black Lego bricks to explore sub-Saharan history with meticulous allusions to Islamic architecture and Afrofuturism. His 2019 solo exhibition Building Black: Civilizations at the Aga Khan Museum featured Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE as its focal point.
The circular 2.8-square-metre piece was commissioned by the museum as part of its ongoing exhibition, Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time, which traces the cultural impact of trade routes in the Sahara, showing how they contributed to the spread of Islam.
Nimako said that when he built Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE, he didn't have access to many blueprints or drawings that could inform him of how the city looked.
There's a lot of trial and error with my process due to the fact that there is not like a finite blueprint
“Sometimes for larger-scale pieces, I will draw some things out but for the most part I like to just get my hands in the Lego and start building and allow the Lego in many ways dictate what’s going to happen,” he said during a talk at the museum in 2020. “There’s a lot of trial and error with my process due to the fact that there is not like a finite blueprint.”
Nimako first conceptualised Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE while on a plane, drawing a sketch, which he said "ended up being a pretty good road map for the actual city that I built".
The artist said he was ultimately delighted to find out the city he imagined bared a resemblance to an old photo of Timbuktu, the Malian city located some 500 kilometres from Kumbi Saleh. The city is home to the Sankore mosque and university, built around 1100 and known to be the oldest continuously operating institution of higher education in the sub-Sahara.
Showing the photograph during the talk, Nimako said he only stumbled on to the image long after he built the artwork. "The centre spire, the layout of the university and collection of dwellings and mosques was translated into my work without ever having seen it," Nimako said. "It makes me really think that there was something deeper and more spiritual happening while I was building the sculpture."
Michael Chagnon, curator of the Aga Khan Museum, told UK publication The Art Newspaper, that the acquisition of the Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE "enhances the museum's ability to tell global stories about the contributions of Muslim civilisations across time".
The curator said the fact Nimako is a Toronto artist was also critical to the decision of acquiring the work.
“The museum is a cultural hub for our neighbourhood and part of our work – and part of any museum’s work – must be to support local artists.”
RESULTS
5pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner AF Nashrah, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Mutaqadim, Riccardo Iacopini, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
6pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Hameem, Jose Santiago, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
6.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner AF Almomayaz, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
7pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Dalil Al Carrere, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash.
7.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner Lahmoom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner Jayide Al Boraq, Bernardo Pinheiro, Khalifa Al Neyadi.
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN MARITIME DISPUTE
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
Primera Liga fixtures (all times UAE: 4 GMT)
Friday
Real Sociedad v Villarreal (10.15pm)
Real Betis v Celta Vigo (midnight)
Saturday
Alaves v Barcelona (8.15pm)
Levante v Deportivo La Coruna (10.15pm)
Girona v Malaga (10.15pm)
Las Palmas v Atletico Madrid (12.15am)
Sunday
Espanyol v Leganes (8.15pm)
Eibar v Athletic Bilbao (8.15pm)
Getafe v Sevilla (10.15pm)
Real Madrid v Valencia (10.15pm)
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
European arms
Known EU weapons transfers to Ukraine since the war began: Germany 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles. Luxembourg 100 NLAW anti-tank weapons, jeeps and 15 military tents as well as air transport capacity. Belgium 2,000 machine guns, 3,800 tons of fuel. Netherlands 200 Stinger missiles. Poland 100 mortars, 8 drones, Javelin anti-tank weapons, Grot assault rifles, munitions. Slovakia 12,000 pieces of artillery ammunition, 10 million litres of fuel, 2.4 million litres of aviation fuel and 2 Bozena de-mining systems. Estonia Javelin anti-tank weapons. Latvia Stinger surface to air missiles. Czech Republic machine guns, assault rifles, other light weapons and ammunition worth $8.57 million.
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
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