In March of this year, Otis Quaicoe traveled to Australia on a research trip ahead of his solo show at COMA Gallery in Sydney. During his stay in Sydney, one of the biggest cities in the country, he noticed similarities in the infrastructure of the country and his birth country, Accra, the capital of Ghana in Africa.

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On reading about the country, Quaicoe realized that the two nations “were all colonized by the British,” he told Observer. That realization led to visits to some museums in Australia to learn more about its history in general, particularly that of the Indigenous people. These were followed by conversations with artists, mainly those who are members of Indigenous communities.

On his return to his base in Portland, Oregon, in the United States, the Ghanaian-American artist read more about Ghana and Australia’s histories. The result is a series of paintings featured in “Fragments of History,” which opened on August 30. The show explores the lasting impact of Colonialism in Accra, an example being lawyers and judges wearing wigs in court, and referencing that with, as the artist put it, “the Indigenous people who were also kind of enslaved just like Africans were also enslaved” in the Australian context of the show.

Gamil Means No, 2024, is an oil, gold leaf and mixed media on canvas portrait of Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay artist and curator Dennis Golding. The slogan is said to be a show of defiance in the face of previous and ongoing attempts to take over neighborhoods and lands of Indigenous people. Man In Blue II, an oil, metal chain, fabric applique and dyed feather on canvas painting, shows a Policeman in a bright blue........

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