A new exhibition in Highgate "interrogates the decomposing repositories of empire".

Titled "a so-called archive" by artist Onyeka Igwe, the exhibition is at Lux, in Waterlow Park, from September 8 to October 17.

Igwe’s first solo exhibition at the gallery includes a film with the same title, as well as an outdoor audio piece and an ephemeral display in the library, expanding on its themes.

Mason Leaver-Yap, who works with artists, said of the exhibition: "With a forensic lens, Onyeka Igwe’s 'a so-called archive' interrogates the decomposing repositories of empire.

"Blending footage shot over 2020 in two separate colonial archive buildings – one in Lagos, Nigeria, and the other in Bristol, United Kingdom – this double portrait considers the ‘sonic shadows’ that colonial images continue to generate, despite the disintegration of their memory and their materials.

"Igwe’s film imagines what might have been ‘lost’ from these archives. It mixes the genres of the radio play, the corporate video tour, and detective noir, with a haunting and critical approach to the horror of discovery."

A collective reading event will take place on October 16, with details to be announced.

Booking is required for the exhibition via https://lux.org.uk/. Audio described and captioned screenings will take place daily.

%image(15154448, type="article-full", alt="A still from a film titled "a so-called archive" by Onyeka Igwe")