Roshini Kempadoo: Works 1990-2004

Roshini Kempadoo_Endless Prospects Roshini Kempadoo_Lapping it up Roshini Kempadoo_Lapping it up Roshini Kempadoo_With our spirit companions
endless prospects, 200 Lapping it up, 1997 With our spirit
companions, 1992

16 July-19 September:
A survey of works by the internationally acclaimed UK photographic and digital artist.

Her photographic, digital and web based work explores and charts colonial history, stories and locations and powerfully draws out the connections between the past and the present.

Roshini Kempadoo was born in the UK but spent ten years in the Caribbean where her family roots lie - a period which became a highly formative time for her. She was also an early member and helped to establish, Autograph, the Association of Black Photographers.

This major solo exhibition provides a comprehensive overview of the development and depth of her exceptional contribution over the last 14 years.

This exhibition is organised by OVA, the Organisation for Visual Arts, including a specially commissioned multimedia work for Pitzhanger Manor-House, endless prospects. Kempadoo's digital artwork creatively engages with ways in which historical material can be reworked and recontextualised, to explore the relationship between physical landscapes, spaces and sites and those who may have used, owned and occupied it. Her particular interest lies in the exploration of the period from 1838-1948 and material relating to Trinidad, then a British colonial state.

endless prospects explores these connections further by considering the way in which architectural spaces and landscapes were constructed, engineered and occupied, from the vantage points, horizons and vistas for dreams and speculation, through to hideaway private places – free from visibility and surveillance. Pitzhanger Manor, designed by John Soane as his rural retreat, can be seen to reflect this notion of leisure, particularly the specific imagination of the period. This contemplation was animated by thoughts of the wider world, with fantasies and speculations of territories beyond England, the sensuous titillation of travel and exploration and a heightened sense of adventure, often through topographical and pictorial representation. The combination of a digital projection and photographs as a site specific work, will simultaneously trace and compare the pursuit of pleasure as both a luxury and a form of escape/survival for the individual forced to labour on the land, or for the land-owning privileged individual occupying it.

Also being shown is the recent work commissioned for Leicester City Art Gallery, Ghosting, which brings to life stories that trace the roots of the different Caribbean people who came to live in Trinidad. Spoken word and animated landscape combine to create a fictional landscape in movement, exploring the plantation space of the historical period. Ghosting reflects on the interconnections of the Caribbean's aural communities, its world-wide origins and its roots in slavery, indentureship and migration. Visitors will be able to interact with the artwork and explore different stories, landscapes and conversations that link back to the colonial past.