John Akomfrah: Arcadia

30 Nov 2023-2 Jun 2024

John Akomfrah, Arcadia, 2023. Credit: © Smoking Dogs Films; Courtesy Smoking Dogs Films and Lisson Gallery.

Overview

The UK pre­mière of a new mul­ti-screen film by artist John Akomfrah: Arcadia is about the settling of the 'New World' and the invisible forces that are always at play regardless of human ambition.

With beautiful visuals of landscapes from across the globe, stunning underwater footage and a haunting soundtrack, Arcadia reflects on ‘The Columbian Exchange’ – the widespread transfer of plants, animals, precious metals, commodities, populations, technology, diseases and ideas between the Americas, Afro-Eurasia and Europe – the ‘New World’ and the ‘Old World’ – from the 1400s onwards.

The film is presented across five screens in the shape of a cross with a multi-layered narrative featuring storms, restless seas, vast skies, beaches, ice fields, mountains, rivers and forests.

We see how miraculous our planet is, but the epic scenery and landscapes are ‘interrupted’ by images of cargo, symbols of trade, ageing boat hulks, microbes, cells and people suffering from smallpox. They combine to evoke ideas of migration, journeys, colonial encounters, how things travel and spread, growth and decay.

"I wanted to go back to a time before the guns came out – to explore what other weapons, intended or otherwise, were in play. There are always powerful forces at work that are beyond our control. Humans are never the only actors on the stage." - John Akomfrah

Arcadia has a running time of approximately 50 minutes.

Artists