British artist and filmmaker, John Akomfrah creates his most ambitious piece to date: An immersive six-channel video installation addressing climate change, human communities and the wilderness.
At a time when, according to the UN, greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are at their highest levels in history, with people experiencing the significant impacts of climate change, including shifting weather patterns, rising sea level, and more extreme weather events, Akomfrah’s Purple brings a multitude of ideas into conversation. These include animal extinctions, the memory of ice, the plastic ocean and global warming. Akomfrah has combined hundreds of hours of archival footage with newly shot film and a hypnotic sound score to produce the video installation.
Winner of the 2017 Artes Mundi Prize. The exhibition has been commissioned by the Barbican Centre, London and co-commissioned by Bildmuseet Umeå, Sweden, TBA21 – Academy, The Institute of Contemporary Art Boston and Museu Coleção Berardo, Lisbon.
John Akomfrah: Purple
October 6, 2017 – January 7, 2018 / Barbican Centre
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