Ghanaian artist El Anatsui highlights a changing relationship in an exhibition moulded by a lifetime of labour. His vast array of artwork explores shared history, reflected in the environment, as pieces reside inside the sphere of a 16th-century institution. Throughout, there are three forms: the foremost are iconic hanging metal sculptures created with found objects (primarily aluminium bottle caps) handcrafted to become exquisitely draped, breathtakingly delicate and reminiscent of traditional cloth.

The metals represent the trade of alcohol which was exchanged first for gold and then for people during the slave trade. Continuing the connection further, ‘Scottish Mission Book Depot Keta’ is an awe-inspiring 13-metre sculpture which highlights Anatsui’s own experience of colonialism, representing art materials he accessed while growing up in a Scottish mission home. The second form of wooden sculptures are made via destruction, sawn and ripped like communities under Western imperial powers. Anatsui inscribes African symbolism onto these sculptures too, showing a propensity toward hopefulness that runs throughout his work. 

The last form pushes us even further toward progress as metals are rubbed, 3D scanned and printed to make radiating orbs and golden landscapes. Indeed, all of his work includes elements of change. Anatsui encourages custodians to display sculptures in new ways, offering fresh vision. It is also well worth a wander into the quad to see the magnificent ‘TSIATSIA: Searching For Connection’, which modernises a building created by the empire, and asks the audience to change their view alongside it.

El Anatsui: Scottish Mission Book Depot Keta, Talbot Rice Gallery, until 29 September.