Image courtesy of The Art Newspaper
Renowned artist and filmmaker John Akomfrah has been selected to represent the UK at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024. He is widely known for exploring issues around climate change and post-colonialism in his installations.
Akomfrah uses film as a medium to explore complex and nuanced issues in a way that is accessible and thought-provoking for the audience. His works have been shown internationally in galleries and at film festivals like the ICA Boston, the New Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, the Barbican Centre, and the Tate Britain, amongst others.
Skinder Hundal, the global director of arts at the British Council and commissioner of the British Pavilion, says about Akomfrah’s work and representation at the 2024 Venice Biennale: “The quality and contextual depth of his artistry never fails to inspire deep reflection and awe. For the British Council to have such a significant British-Ghanaian artist in Venice is an exhilarating moment.”
Akomfrah has previously participated in two Venice Biennales. At the 2015 biennale, which was curated by the late Nigerian curator Okwui Enwezor (All the World’s Futures), his Vertigo Sea, the first installment of a trilogy on the demise of the world, was a huge topic. The three-screen video installation combined images of whale hunting, the slave trade, and marine life from the BBC’s Natural History Unit with new and old material to reflect on various aspects of humanity’s relationship with the ocean.
Image courtesy of Contemporary And
In 2018, the second installment of his project Purple (2017), was presented at the Curve gallery at London’s Barbican. a six-channel video installation that presents the artist’s personal and nuanced perspective on the threat posed by climate change. He presented Four Nocturnes, the third piece in the trilogy, at the first Ghana Pavilion in Venice in 2019. The work examined humanity’s negative impact on the natural environment with the decline in the number of elephants in Africa.
In January, Sir John Akomfrah was awarded a Knighthood (Knight Bachelor) for services to the Arts in the 2023 King’s New Year Honours.
John Akomfrah says:
“It is a huge privilege and an honour to be asked to represent the UK at the 60th Venice Biennale—it is without a doubt one of the most exciting opportunities that an artist can be presented with,” Akomfrah said in a statement. “I see this invitation as recognition of, and a platform for all those I have collaborated with over the decades, and who continue to make my work possible. I’m grateful to be given a moment to explore the complex history and significance of this institution and the nation it represents, as well as its architectural home in Venice—with all the stories it has told and will continue to.”
The 60th Venice Biennale will open on the 20th of April next year and it will run till the 24th of November in the same year.
