John Akomfrah in conversation

2 Jul 2024 6.30-7.45pm

Overview

Celebrated artist and filmmaker Sir John Akomfrah will talk about his practice and discuss representing Britain in this year’s Venice Biennale.

Sir John Akomfrah will discuss his practice and career with curator Tarini Malik, from groundbreaking multi-channel film installations such as Vertigo Sea (2015) to his recent commission Listening All Night to the Rain (2024) by the British Council to represent Britain at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2024.

Sir John Akomfrah is widely recognised for his art films and multi-screen video installations which explore issues including racial injustice, colonial legacies, climate change and migration. He was a founding member of the influential Black Audio Film Collective, who won international acclaim for their first film Handsworth Songs (1986), which explored events surrounding the 1985 riots in Birmingham and London. Throughout his career, Akomfrah has presented work internationally, including recent solo exhibitions at the Hirshhorn in Washington DC, and the Kunsthalle Schirn in Frankfurt, as well as exhibiting The Unfinished Conversation (2012) at Tate Britain in 2022, and participating in the Venice Biennale’s first Ghana Pavilion 2019 with Four Nocturnes (2019). Akomfrah was honoured with a knighthood in the 2023 UK Honours list.

Tarini Malik is a curator at the Royal Academy and is the Shane Akeroyd Associate Curator of the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2024, working with Sir John Akomfrah. Previously, she was a curator at the Whitechapel Gallery and at the Hayward Gallery. She was Head of Exhibitions for artist Isaac Julien and Research Curator for the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale in 2015.

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