THE SOUNDS OF TIME – UNITED KINGDOM AT THE VENICE BIENNALE

Listening All Night To The Rain is a multi-layered exhibition that looks at how the sonic experience mirrors and shapes our cultural realities. Weaving newly filmed material with found still images, video, audio clips and texts from hundreds of international archive collections and libraries, this year’s commission brings together eight multimedia and sound installations. 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.

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, honoring those who have been marginalized by the legacies of imperialism.

Akomfrah intends for the commission to be experienced as a whole, with the artwork organized into song-like movements or ‘cantos’ that are inspired by American poet Ezra Pound’s (1885-1972) journey through history in The Cantos (1925).

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 color 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.

Testament to the artist’s long-standing motivations in addressing landmark moments in British history through a critical lens, the exhibition platforms narratives, including those belonging to the Windrush generation, and pays respect to the breadth of black British identity. Shedding light on the discrimination that migrants in Britain faced during the post-industrial decline of the country from the late 1960s onwards, a central figure in the work is the life and death of British-Nigerian David Oluwale, who tragically drowned in the River Aire, Yorkshire after being brutalised by local policemen. Yorkshire, along with the Scottish Highlands, are pivotal locations throughout the work and act as mythical homes for the various characters whose memories the audience witness.

Through his work, Listening All Night To The Rain, Akomfrah continues to explore the themes that have featured throughout his work of the past four decades and his investigation of issues of contemporary life, such as memory, migration, racial injustice and climate change – with a renewed focus on the act of listening and the sonic.

Sir John Akomfrah explores post-colonialism, environmental devastation and the politics of aesthetics for the British Pavilion’s contribution to the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.