Akomfrah Considers Black Identity
John Akomfrah, "The Last Angel of History," 1996, film still, 45 min. Photo courtesy of Icarus Films
John Akomfrah, a British artist of Ghanaian descent, considers questions of race and post-colonial identity in The Last Angel of History, on view at Regina’s MacKenzie Gallery until May 14.
The 45-minute film introduces audiences to the data thief, a mysterious figure who travels through space and time seeking a key to the future of black culture. This influential 1996 cinematic essay considers science fiction themes of alien abduction, estrangement and genetic engineering as metaphors for the black experience of forced displacement, cultural alienation and otherness.
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John Akomfrah, "The Last Angel of History," 1996, film still, 45 min. Photo courtesy of Icarus Films
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John Akomfrah, "The Last Angel of History," 1996, film still, 45 min. Photo courtesy of Icarus Films
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John Akomfrah, "The Last Angel of History," 1996, film still, 45 min. Photo courtesy of Icarus Films
Timothy Long, the MacKenzie’s head curator, says Akomfrah has developed a powerful approach to consider black history. “He uses montage as a working method,” says Long. “He’s interested in the collision of two images and the third meaning that is produced out of that.”
Earlier this year, Akomfrah won the Artes Mundi 7, Britain’s leading prize for international contemporary art. His recent work, Auto Da Fé, uses the aesthetics of a period drama to consider the historical and contemporary causes of migration. He focuses on religious persecution as a major cause of global displacement through the centuries, combining subtle historical references with sumptuous costumes, locations and sets.
In the Last Angel of History, Akomfrah explores the work of funkmaster George Clinton and his Mothership Connection, Sun Ra’s use of extraterrestrial iconography, and black sci-fi authors Samuel R. Delaney and Octavia Butler.
Images of Pan-African culture from different eras are intercut with interviews with musicians DJ Spooky, Goldie and Derek May. Astronaut Bernard Harris describes his experiences as one of the first African-Americans in space, and Star Trek actress Nichelle Nichols tells of her campaign for a greater role for African-Americans in NASA.
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John Akomfrah, "The Last Angel of History," 1996, film still, 45 min. Photo courtesy of Icarus Films
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John Akomfrah, "The Last Angel of History," 1996, film still, 45 min. Photo courtesy of Icarus Films
Although the film was made two decades ago, Long says it remains relevant for audiences today because it asks questions about how we develop a sense of identity and how the past continues to influence the future.
“You start to realize that the stories told in science fiction are no stranger than what has actually happened in history when it comes to black experience,” says Long. “When they talk about feeling like aliens in their own country, you start to rethink what we think about how we tell stories about displacement, about alienation, of whole groups of people.
“Science fiction puts it in the future in another place and allows us to think about it in a particular way, to analyze it. What the film does brilliantly is take that analysis and retrofit it to the past, or retro-engineer it, to create this dynamic and destabilizing idea of black culture."
Long says the filmmaker’s intent is to move the discussion forward. “Out of those fragments you can find the key to the future, which is the data thief’s mission”
MacKenzie Art Gallery
3475 Albert St, T C Douglas Building (corner of Albert St & 23rd Ave), Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 6X6
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