Now Is No Time At All

Larry Achiampong

Larry Achiampong is a British-Ghanaian artist, filmmaker and composer whose work explores the intersections of identity, migration, memory and belonging in the contemporary world. Working across film, sound, installation, performance and text, he creates expansive narratives that examine how personal histories are shaped by larger social, political and technological forces.

Born in London to Ghanaian parents, Achiampong’s practice draws upon his experience of growing up between cultures while engaging with wider questions surrounding postcolonialism, diaspora and the legacies of empire. Combining archival research, speculative storytelling and autobiographical reflection, his works often challenge dominant historical narratives, creating space for alternative perspectives and previously marginalised voices. Through a distinctive visual and sonic language, he investigates how identities are constructed and transformed across generations, geographies and digital networks.

In 2021, Achiampong participated in London Zeitgeist, a group exhibition curated by Sir Norman Rosenthal for CIRCA. Conceived as a contemporary response to Rosenthal’s landmark 1982 exhibition Zeitgeist, the project brought together a generation of artists whose practices reflected the cultural energy and complexity of London. Broadcast across public screens in London, Seoul and Tokyo, Achiampong’s commission Reliquary 2: A Letter of 4 Chapters combined moving image, sound and storytelling to explore questions of heritage, displacement and collective memory. Accompanied by the time-limited edition now is no time at all, the project demonstrated his ability to connect deeply personal narratives with broader reflections on history, identity and social transformation.

Achiampong’s work has been exhibited internationally at institutions including Tate Britain, Tate Modern, the British Film Institute, Somerset House and the Venice Biennale. His acclaimed multi-platform project Relic Traveller established a speculative future through which to examine race, technology and belonging, exemplifying his broader interest in using fiction as a tool for understanding contemporary reality.

Through a practice that moves seamlessly between the intimate and the global, the historical and the speculative, Larry Achiampong creates works that challenge inherited narratives while imagining more inclusive futures. His art invites audiences to reconsider how identities are formed, whose stories are remembered and what new possibilities emerge when history is viewed from different perspectives.