This autumn, Larry Achiampong will present his new film Relic 4 (2026) at KARST, revisiting the cinematic universe of the Relic Traveller project after a six-year hiatus. Exploring themes of fallen empire, class, and displacement, this ongoing film series interrogates the architectures and residues of colonialism. Achiampong poses fundamental questions such as: what and who is shaping history? And whose traces are deemed worthy of preservation?
The Relic Traveller series is set in an alternate reality where the Pan African Union uses time-travel technology to retrieve testimonies from people collectively oppressed by colonisation, capitalism, and globalisation. The films follow various ‘Voyagers’ across desolate landscapes as they gather the voices of communal memory. This emotional journey of grief and healing reveals a renewed optimism for a self-determined future.
Relic 4 marks the beginning of a new phase in the Relic Traveller project. The story revisits the original Voyager character, featured in Relic 1 (2017) and portrayed by the artist’s son, Sinai Lee Achiampong-Rose. In this new film, the Voyager continues his time-travelling journey, navigating physical and mental barriers and borders and taking him to places of historical significance that weigh heavily as symbols of imperial pasts. These include Tilbury Fort and the Port of Tilbury, both of which served as backdrops to the violent expansion of the British Empire.
As part of the exhibition, Achiampong will also present his ongoing series Pan African Flags For The Relic Travellers’ Alliance. Established across the last decade, each flag is designed to represent African diasporic identity. The colours green, black, and red reflect the continent’s lands, people, and struggles endured, while the fields of gold act as a proclamation of prosperity.
Both anticipating and responding to the present moment, Relic 4 examines the decade-long legacy of Brexit and impacts of its rhetoric, feeding into present-day apprehensions and thoughts of tentative futures. Reigniting the Relic Traveller universe, Relic 4 takes the ongoing saga into an exciting and powerful new direction.
Relic 4 is supported by the British Council.
Relic 4 will be open at KARST on Thursday 15 October (6 – 9pm). The exhibition will be on view until 12 December.
