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Westminster tube station will look a little different next month when the London Underground roundel above its main entrance gets an arty makeover.
British-Ghanaian artist Larry Achiampong has redesigned the classic red, white and blue roundel to pay tribute to Ghana and other countries across Africa. When the new design is installed on April 12, visitors to the station will be greeted by a colourful green, black and red form inspired by Ghanaian Adinkra symbols, which represent proverbs, maxims, concepts and more.
Around the edges, the roundel is decorated with 54 stars, with each representing the countries that make up the continent of Africa.
‘I feel that this permanent work at Westminster centres itself as a place of representation, so that among the many that will encounter it, especially young Black kids who pass it by chance can see it as a lifting point,’ Achiampong said about the project. ‘I didn't see many artworks in public spaces growing up that were saying this is part of you or you can connect to this; this belongs to you. It's important to have a connection to and a stake in a place.’
The artist previously worked on redesigns of 70 roundels at Westminster in 2019, with the works on display at the station until February 2020. This time, however, Achiampong’s roundel will stay up permanently.
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