Five Murmurations by John Akomfrah in 'The Healthy City' at Utrecht Centraal Musuem

31 May 2022

On 2 June, Utrecht Centraal Museum opens a survey exhibition on the city of Utrecht on the occasion of its 900th anniversary. Titled 'The healthy city', the exhibition culminates in a presentation of John Akomfrah's three-channel video installation Five Murmurations (2021) as part of The Annex, the Museum's permanent programme devoted to contemporary art.

A portrayal of the overlapping COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter Protests, the work intersperses footage of recent tragic events and victims such, as Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Adam Toledo, with images of tragedies from art history, as a kind of foreshadowing. Five Murmurations is ultimately a reflection on our current time and experience; one that is both ominous and frightening, but also healing as we are reminded how a crisis is also an opportunity for change.

'The Healthy City' continues through 11 September. Find further information here.