Longitudinal Dialogues: Cultural Conversations on the Meridian, takes The Line’s location on the Greenwich Meridian in London as a starting point for global cultural exchange. The programme will develop through a series of artist residencies, public art commissions and symposiums, as well as an ambitious education programme that will contribute to debates around art in the public realm and its role in communities, presenting urgent and innovative responses to sustainability, as well as raising awareness and generating questions around water and climate change.

The first iteration of Longitudinal Dialogues took place on 8 June 2020 as part of Royal Museums Greenwich’s World Oceans Day programme. Serge Attukwei Clottey’s film, The Displaced, was screened online and accompanied by an interview with the artist and workshop activity. In September 2021, Serge Attukwei Clottey undertook a research residency hosted by Royal Museums Greenwich and co-curated by The Line and Arup Phase 2. Clottey spent time meeting museum curators, exploring the collection and archives and visiting The Line to develop ideas and approaches for his commission, Tribe and Tribulation, which launched at Greenwich Peninsula in July 2022.

Clottey’s work has inspired a series of school workshops building on connections that have been established between schools in London and Accra through Totally Thames’ Rivers of the World and Story of Water programmes in 2021. As part of the engagement programme for Tribe and Tribulation, workshops were delivered at six primary schools in each city during Spring 2022. Around 600 children participated, using plastic rubbish and recyclable materials to create masks inspired by Clottey’s practice. On 26th May 2022, at the same time in both London and Accra, children took part in a procession to celebrate the project. Watch the film of the school processions by clicking on the link below.

Longitudinal Dialogues is funded by the British Council’s International Collaboration Grants, which are designed to support UK and overseas organisations to collaborate on international arts projects.

For more information, visit Serge Attukwei Clottey (Artist page)