Tribe and Tribulation 

Tribe and Tribulation is a totemic sculpture, which stands over five metres tall. The cubes are made of reclaimed wood, including painted timber from Ghanaian fishing boats, integrating Clottey’s interest in our relationship to the ocean, migration and the afterlife of objects.  

The sculpture includes an embedded sound installation, with recordings from Cape Coast Castle, Elmina Castle, James Fort and a location on the Meridian Line in Tema. The first three sites were former slave forts in the then Gold Coast, with some of the buildings now designated as world heritage sites, honouring the memories of the enslaved captives.  

The sound installation in Tribe and Tribulation is projected north, south, east and west, inviting the listener to consider how life at these historic sites has changed over the years, with the waters now used by local fishermen.  

Tribe and Tribulation is the first commission that is part of The Line’s Longitudinal Dialogues programme that takes its location on the Greenwich Meridian as a starting point for global cultural exchange. The work’s location makes an important connection to historical trade routes and encourages listeners to focus on the role of water, a recurrent theme in Clottey’s work, and the Greenwich Meridian that connects London and Accra. The development of the commission has been supported by Clottey’s research residency at Royal Museums Greenwich in September 2021, co-curated by The Line and Arup Phase 2. 

Tribe and Tribulation is part of The Line, London’s first dedicated modern and contemporary art walk.