PAST EXHIBITION

Annex: Five Murmurations - John Akomfrah

The power behind the throne.

In the Annex of the Statement Chairs exhibition, the installation Impossible is Nothing by Thierry Oussou (1988, Allada, Benin) is on show. Central to this artwork is a very special chair: the throne of King Béhanzin (1845–1906), the last king of Dahomey, now Benin.

The throne embodies the king’s position, but it also symbolises how the colonial powers took the king’s place at the end of the nineteenth century. As Oussou puts it, "If you take the king's throne, you take his place". In Impossible is Nothing, Oussou shows that the chair represents power. He also asks questions about access to and ownership of cultural heritage, and about craftsmanship and scholarship.