GARRY GRANT STUDIO

This work reimagines the Lukasa memory board of the Luba people as a contemporary mnemonic device—an interface where ancestral knowledge is preserved, activated, and projected forward. Rooted in oral tradition, the Lukasa historically functioned as a tactile system for encoding history, lineage, and cultural intelligence. In this interpretation, it is transformed into a sculptural relief that bridges ancient knowledge systems with the visual language of modern technology.
Created within the context of our present moment—marked by rapid technological advancement, cultural fragmentation, and the ongoing erasure of historical narratives—Memory Board II asserts that ancestral knowledge is not obsolete, but essential. The layered wood construction, embedded textures, and gilded surfaces operate as a coded surface, evoking both the physicality of memory and the architecture of data systems.
This work positions memory as an active, living force—one that resists disappearance and demands continuity. It serves not only as a vessel of remembrance, but as a forward-facing archive, preserving knowledge for future generations while inviting viewers to engage in the act of remembering. In doing so, Memory Board II becomes both a record and a proposition: that the past, when fully realized, is a technology for the future.