John Akomfrah walks us through the British Pavilion
John Akomfrah walks us through the British Pavilion
Commissioned by the British Council for the 60th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, John Akomfrah’s most ambitious commission to date, Listening All Night To The Rain, draws its title from 11th century Chinese writer and artist Su Dongpo’s poetry, which explores the transitory nature of life during a period of political exile. Organised into a series of song-like movements or ‘cantos’, the exhibition, curated by Tarini Malik, brings together eight interlocking and overlapping multimedia and sound installations into a single and immersive environment that tell stories of migrant diasporas in Britain. The exhibition is the result of decades of extensive research by the artist and his team, using historical records to contextualise our experience of the present day.
The exhibition begins on the exterior of the British Pavilion’s 19th century neoclassical building, with a large three-screen film installation suspended onto its façade. This artistic intervention brings imagery and voices from the Global South to the forefront, honouring those who have been marginalised by the legacies of imperialism. Inside the Pavilion, film screens embedded within sculptural installations are inspired by the structure and form of altarpieces from religious sites, evoking a sense of contemplation and reverie. Each gallery space layers together a specific colour field, influenced by the paintings of American artist Mark Rothko, in order to highlight the ways in which abstraction can represent the fundamental nature of human drama.
Listening All Night To The Rain weaves together newly filmed material, archive video footage and still images, with audio and text from international archives and libraries. The exhibition tells global stories through the ‘memories’ of people who represent migrant communities in Britain and examines how multiple geopolitical narratives are reflected in the experiences of diasporic people more broadly.
Explore the exhibition further here.
Film by Laura Bushell.