John Akomfrah

John Akomfrah is a highly esteemed artist and filmmaker renowned for his works marked by inquiries into memory, post-colonialism, temporality, and aesthetics. His creations frequently delve into the experiences of migrant diasporas.

Biography of John Akomfrah

John Akomfrah was born in Accra, Ghana, in 1957 to parents actively engaged in anti-colonial activism. Following the coup of 1966, which posed a threat to his mother's safety, his family relocated to Britain. Akomfrah received his education in West London and graduated in Sociology from Portsmouth Polytechnic in 1982.

Akomfrah played a pivotal role as a founding member of the influential Black Audio Film Collective, established in London in 1982 alongside artists David Lawson and Lina Gopaul, with whom he continues to collaborate. Their inaugural documentary, "Handsworth Songs," directed by Akomfrah, examined racial tensions in 1980s Britain.

Between 2001 and 2007, he held the position of Governor at the British Film Institute. Additionally, from 2004 to 2013, he served as a governor of the film organization Film London. Akomfrah has also imparted his knowledge through teaching roles at various academic institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brown University, among others.

In 2015, Akomfrah debuted his three-screen film installation, "Vertigo Sea" (2015). Seamlessly blending archival footage, readings from classical sources, and newly captured scenes, Akomfrah's work spotlights the tumult and brutality of the whaling industry, juxtaposed with the arduous journeys of generations of migrants across the ocean in pursuit of a better existence.

In 2017, the artist unveiled his most expansive film installation to date, "Purple" (2017). This six-channel video installation grapples with themes of climate change, human communities, and wilderness. 

In 2019, as part of his participation in the inaugural Ghana Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale, John Akomfrah presented "Four Nocturnes" (2019), a three-channel piece reflecting on the intricate, intertwined relationship between humanity's devastation of the natural world and our self-destruction.

In the New Year Honours of 2023, he was granted a Knighthood for his contributions to the arts. The same year, it was revealed that John Akomfrah would represent the UK at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024.