PCAI is glad to announce the UK premiere of Arcadia by visionary artist and filmmaker John Akomfrah. Arcadia, a major new multi-screen film, supported by PCAI, explores the themes of colonialism, and the global implications of climate change.
The film reflects on ‘The Columbian Exchange’ – the widespread transfer of plants, animals, precious metals, commodities, populations, technology, diseases and ideas between the Americas, Afro-Eurasia and Europe – the ‘New World’ and the ‘Old World’ – from the 1400s onwards. From November 30, 2023, to June 2, 2024, the film is presented at The Box Plymouth across five screens in the shape of a cross with a multi-layered narrative featuring storms, restless seas, vast skies, beaches, ice fields, mountains, rivers and forests. Arcadia was commissioned by The Box and co-commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation and Hartwig Art Foundation, Amsterdam, Polygreen Culture and Art Initiative (PCAI), Piraeus, Greece, and Arts Council England. John Akomfrah, the widely celebrated filmmaker, will represent Great Britain at the prestigious 2024 Venice Art Biennale, Italy from April 20 to November 24, 2024.
More about John Akomfrah
John Akomfrah was born in Accra, Ghana, in 1957. A pioneering filmmaker, Akomfrah creates multichannel video installations that critically examine the legacy of colonialism, the Black diaspora, and environmental degradation. Akomfrah weaves together original footage with archival material to create stirring, layered narratives that juxtapose personal and historical memory, past and present, and environmental and human crises.
Image credit: John Akomfrah, Arcadia, 2023. © Smoking Dogs Films; Courtesy Smoking Dogs Films and Lisson Gallery.
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