Curated at Void by Orla Ryan and Maoliosa Boyle

Void is delighted to present acclaimed Vietnamese artist Dinh Q. Lê’s The Colony in partnership with Artangel and Ikon Gallery, Birmingham.

On the night of the opening at 6.30pm Dr Frank Uekotter Reader in Environmental Humanities, University of Birmingham will deliver a talk on ‘The Legacy of Guano’. Dr Uekotter will provide the historical context for the exhibition, the subject of which is the Chincha Islands, a cluster of islands off the coast of Peru rich in guano, a powerful fertilizer, and the setting for a brutal period of history.

In three parts, these films present new footage of the Chincha Islands on the west coast of Peru which are rich in guano. This cluster of islands are home to large colonies of seabirds which has led to a mountainous build up of this valuable natural resource.

In the mid 19th century these islands became part of a transnational conflict as ownership was sought by Spain, America, and Peru. In 1856 America passed the U.S Guano Act to authorise claims for over one hundred uninhabited islands, reefs and atolls in the Pacific and Atlantic. Britain was also involved controlling much of the trading through merchants and middlemen.
As guano mining was a low tech endeavour requiring only a shovel, a sack and brawn however Peru lacked the human resources to harvest it. It is estimated 10,000 bonded Chinese labourers became Guano miners and lived in brutal conditions. These islands are now uninhabited and provide a desolate setting for Q. Lê’s films which explore themes of colonialism, conflict and human suffering.

This exhibition which has toured from Ikon Gallery in Birmingham has been commissioned by Artangel, Ikon, Birmingham, Han Nefkens H+F Collection Proyecto Amil, Lima.

Dinh Q. Lê’s renowned Helicopters and Farmers installation was previously shown at Void as part of group exhibition ‘Spring Watching Pavilion’ curated by Orla Ryan in 2015.

The Colony is part of The Artangel Collection, an initiative to bring outstanding film and video works, commissioned and produced by Artangel, to galleries and museums across the UK. The Artangel Collection has been developed in partnership with Tate, is generously supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and The Foyle Foundation and uses public funding from Arts Council England.