John Akomfrah. The Earth is flat

Dates: Novembrer 13, 2020 - March 14, 2021
Curator: Neus Miró
Coordinator: Alberto Figueroa
Space: Monumental Area

The work of John Akomfrah (1957) has developed on the basis of his biography and of the construction of his identity as a son of immigrants in the UK, belonging to a minority black population, and as part of the diaspora. His films and audiovisual installations explore aspects associated with migration, the diaspora, and the construction of post-colonial identity.

In 1982, John Akomfrah, together with Lina Gopaul, Reece Auguiste, Avril Johnson, Trevor Mathison, Edward George, David Lawson and Claire Joseph founded the Black Audio Film Collective. The collective split up in 1998, and Akomfrah, together with Lina Gopaul and David Lawson, established Smoking Dog Films, an independent audiovisual production company through which Akomfrah has produced all his work since the end of the 90s. The main objective of the Black Audio Film Collective (BAFC) was to build a new subjectivity and representation as migrants, which required the creation of a new narrative and a new audiovisual language.

One of the first works by Akomfrah produced as part of the BAFC, and which can be seen in this exhibition is Handsworth Songs (1986), which is notable for its use of archival audiovisual material together with footage shot by the artists themselves, with the aim of revealing the political and economic forces that lead to social agitation in the UK in those years.

The use of archival material, together with self-produced footage will become a characteristic of Akomfrah's productions which, starting in the 90s, would expand his interests beyond the exploration of the social divide at the heart of British society, in order to engage the colonial legacy and its global consequences for humans as well as for other species.

 

ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION

[Leaflet]

[High Resolution Images]

[Neus Miró: John Akomfrah. The Earth is flat]