John Akomfrah: Ballasts of Memory

Since the early 1980s, Akomfrah’s moving image works have offered some of the most rigorous and expansive reflections on the culture of the black diaspora, both in the UK and around the world.

Akomfrah’s work initially came to prominence in the early 1980s as part of the Black Audio Film Collective, a group of seven artists founded in 1982 in response to the 1981 Brixton riots. In recent years, his multichannel video works have evolved into ambitious, multi-screen installations shown in galleries and museums around the world. This exhibition presents a selection of existing works alongside a related film programme. Ballasts of Memory includes the European premiere of Precarity, which tells the story of Charles “Buddy” Bolden, the African American cornetist and key figure in the development of jazz music.

On Saturday 6 July at 1pm John Akomfrah discusses his exhibition {{I:Ballasts of Memory, the ideas and research behind his recent work Precarity, as well as his practice and career, with BALTIC Curator Alessandro Vincentelli.}}

John Akomfrah was born in Accra, Ghana, in 1957, and lives and works in London. He is a cofounder of the Black Audio Film Collective (1982–98). Since the early 1980s, Akomfrah’s moving image works have offered some of the most rigorous and expansive reflections on the culture of the black diaspora, both in the UK and around the world.

Akomfrah’s work initially came to prominence in the early 1980s as part of the Black Audio Film Collective, a group of seven artists founded in 1982 in response to the 1981 Brixton riots. In recent years, his multichannel video works have evolved into ambitious, multi-screen installations shown in galleries and museums around the world.

Forthcoming exhibitions include: Ghana Freedom, Ghana Pavilion, Venice Biennale, Italy; Purple, ICA Boston, MA, USA; Vertigo Sea, Base Sous Marine, Bordeaux, France; Purple, Garage, Moscow, Russia; Tropikos, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, USA and Mimesis: African Solder, New Art Exchange, Nottingham UK.

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