![Nimako said that when he built 'Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE', he didn’t have access to many blueprints or drawings that could inform him of how the city looked. Photo by Sam Engelking](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/Z3QDEKLA326XDALZVKMD27EMQE.jpg?smart=true&auth=c971d71a06ddcdfac29b50fa0b503ef019ef43c27d736b4bd33b998a560b2d3f&width=400&height=225)
!['Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE' is Ekow Nimako’s futuristic reimagining of the presently ruined medieval town in south-east Mauritania. Photo by Connie Tsang](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/T2RS3I4UDB5APMAPLSQVCFCXNI.jpg?smart=true&auth=a803a7b6a46a47bea86d9693a695b98dba6fb4159ea189ee3a39e7835784f29d&width=400&height=225)
!['Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE', made from 100,000 Lego bricks, depicts the medieval trans-Saharan trade hub 1,000 years into the future. Photo by Sam Engelking](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/XPIF7NXVGGDWV7H2AIDXJD6ZDE.jpg?smart=true&auth=9358b7c2c7b80ae07aaff2e45d4e7bd8f1477895c7ddd190bdbb0d253ec0e1d9&width=400&height=225)
![Nimako's works often use black Lego bricks to explore sub-Saharan history with meticulous allusions to Islamic architecture and Afrofuturism. Photo by Sam Engelking](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/ZILGOEQHVQZABWVUZJQV3QSIUQ.jpg?smart=true&auth=084374f488dd5b6a3419cb3752073ac8321725ed0b9c96dd92c72b5bff8d05c1&width=400&height=225)
!['Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE' was the focal point of Nimako's 2019 solo exhibition at the Aga Khan Museum. Photo by Sam Engelking](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/WOKEXOXCUMBUAG7XVNMPEEQCHQ.jpg?smart=true&auth=43c0ba3db21d801f7e0d9f74d682c29af3aa80d0b4351c0a3b8057d9dd0620d0&width=400&height=225)
![The circular 2.8-square-metre piece was commissioned by the museum as part of its ongoing exhibition, 'Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time', which traces the cultural impact of trade routes in the Sahara, showing how they contributed to the spread of Islam. Photo by Sam Engelking](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/2NP6QWIXSBFFTESXBR2PPU5G74.jpg?smart=true&auth=c40aa3a889bd356eb742a561ee18aa3e375e65b22dc39d3b725794b666c91d71&width=400&height=225)
![Nimako said that when he built 'Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE', he didn’t have access to many blueprints or drawings that could inform him of how the city looked. Photo by Sam Engelking](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/Z3QDEKLA326XDALZVKMD27EMQE.jpg?smart=true&auth=c971d71a06ddcdfac29b50fa0b503ef019ef43c27d736b4bd33b998a560b2d3f&width=400&height=225)
!['Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE' is Ekow Nimako’s futuristic reimagining of the presently ruined medieval town in south-east Mauritania. Photo by Connie Tsang](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/T2RS3I4UDB5APMAPLSQVCFCXNI.jpg?smart=true&auth=a803a7b6a46a47bea86d9693a695b98dba6fb4159ea189ee3a39e7835784f29d&width=400&height=225)
!['Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE', made from 100,000 Lego bricks, depicts the medieval trans-Saharan trade hub 1,000 years into the future. Photo by Sam Engelking](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/XPIF7NXVGGDWV7H2AIDXJD6ZDE.jpg?smart=true&auth=9358b7c2c7b80ae07aaff2e45d4e7bd8f1477895c7ddd190bdbb0d253ec0e1d9&width=400&height=225)
![Nimako's works often use black Lego bricks to explore sub-Saharan history with meticulous allusions to Islamic architecture and Afrofuturism. Photo by Sam Engelking](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/ZILGOEQHVQZABWVUZJQV3QSIUQ.jpg?smart=true&auth=084374f488dd5b6a3419cb3752073ac8321725ed0b9c96dd92c72b5bff8d05c1&width=400&height=225)
!['Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE' was the focal point of Nimako's 2019 solo exhibition at the Aga Khan Museum. Photo by Sam Engelking](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/WOKEXOXCUMBUAG7XVNMPEEQCHQ.jpg?smart=true&auth=43c0ba3db21d801f7e0d9f74d682c29af3aa80d0b4351c0a3b8057d9dd0620d0&width=400&height=225)
![The circular 2.8-square-metre piece was commissioned by the museum as part of its ongoing exhibition, 'Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time', which traces the cultural impact of trade routes in the Sahara, showing how they contributed to the spread of Islam. Photo by Sam Engelking](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/2NP6QWIXSBFFTESXBR2PPU5G74.jpg?smart=true&auth=c40aa3a889bd356eb742a561ee18aa3e375e65b22dc39d3b725794b666c91d71&width=400&height=225)
![Nimako said that when he built 'Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE', he didn’t have access to many blueprints or drawings that could inform him of how the city looked. Photo by Sam Engelking](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/Z3QDEKLA326XDALZVKMD27EMQE.jpg?smart=true&auth=c971d71a06ddcdfac29b50fa0b503ef019ef43c27d736b4bd33b998a560b2d3f&width=400&height=225)
'Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE': Lego sculpture reimagines the medieval Mauritanian city
The artwork, made from 100,000 Lego bricks, has been acquired by the Aga Khan Museum
![Razmig Bedirian](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/https%3A%2F%2Fs3.amazonaws.com%2Farc-authors%2Fthenational%2F275b4b76-cb6d-410e-a5df-c23d65484c26.png?smart=true&auth=fc94b07464368c9c664f3bd102f95ffe4c76b1b38fe7d6fee2362e26add51d0e&width=70&height=70)
Razmig Bedirian
February 25, 2021
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February 25, 2021