African-British artist and filmmaker John Akomfrah (1957) will represent Britain at the 60th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale in 2024. The news was announced on 24 January by the British Council, responsible for the English Pavilion since 1937.
John Akomfrah at his London studio, 2016 © Smoking Dogs Films; Courtesy Smoking Dogs Films and Lisson Gallery
Akomfrah is known for his films and multi-channel video installations dedicated to social and environmental issues such as racial injustice, diasporic identity, postcolonial heritage and climate crisis. With his work, the artist draws attention, in particular, to the historical gaps and deliberate absences within the “official” narratives elaborated by traditional cultural institutions. Akomfrah began to attract critical interest in the early 1980s when, along with six other African-British multimedia artists, he founded the Black Audio Film Collective (BAFCT). With his first work, Handsworth Songs (1986), through a combination of newsreels and archival and contemporary photographs, the group recounted the clashes between the Afro-Caribbean community and the police. Thanks to his work, BAFCT was able to subvert the stereotypical image of the color community in the mass media by raising awareness of British public opinion.
John Akomfrah “Four Nocturnes”, 2019 Three channel HD colour video installation, 7.1 sound 50 minutes AKOM190001 © Smoking Dogs Films; Courtesy Smoking Dogs Films and Lisson Gallery
Akomfrah took part in the 56th and 58th Venice Biennale. On the occasion of All the World’s Futures (2015) curated by Okwui Enwezor, the artist presented the first part of a trilogy dedicated to the decay of the planet and the self-destruction of man. The first chapter, entitled Vertigo Sea, explored the different nuances that regulate the unbalanced relations between man and the ocean. It was a three-screen video installation using a combination of images and archival video, mainly from the BBC’s Natural History Unit. To these, the artist had combined contemporary films where he played the protagonist. Alternating scenes of whaling on the coasts of Newfoundland and polar bears in the Antarctic with images of black bodies lined up in the hold of a boat, the artist proposed a bleak picture of the uncertain fate of man. Instead, for the 58th edition of the Venice Biennale, May You Live in Interesting Times (2019) curated by Ralph Rugoff, the artist inaugurated the Ghana Pavilion with the third and final chapter of the trilogy, Four Nocturnes (2019). The installation, also composed of three color channels, explored through the slow decline of African elephant populations, human mortality, the development of fragmentary forms of identity, and the loss of historical memory.
John Akomfrah “Four Nocturnes”, 2019 Three channel HD colour video installation, 7.1 sound 50 minutes AKOM190001 © Smoking Dogs Films; Courtesy Smoking Dogs Films and Lisson Gallery
Con la partecipazione di Akomfrah, il British Council rinnova il suo impegno per una Maggiore inclusività etnica e la necessità di una decolonizzazione Culturale, Oltre che istituzionale. Il Direttore globale delle Arti del British e commissario del Padiglione britannico ha commentato: “Con una carriera di quattro decenni, i giudici hanno ritenuto che Akomfrah abbia dato un contributo molto significativo alla scena artistica contemporanea britannica e internazionale. Lo stile e la narrazione di John si sono evoluti continuamente, rivelando idee chiave e domande sul mondo in cui viviamo”.
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Mariavittoria Pirera, born in 1995, has a historical-artistic education obtained with a three-year degree in History of Cultural Heritage, historical-artistic profile, at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, and with a master’s degree in History and Conservation of artistic heritage, contemporary art history, at Ca’ Foscari University, Venice. She lives and works in Milan.
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