The Wick List

Viewing Sir John Akomfrah’s ambitious commission for the 60th Venice Biennale is finally unveiled

The Wick - John Akomfrah and Tarini Malik, British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
Above  John Akomfrah and Tarini Malik, British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
The Wick - John Akomfrah, Canto I, Listening All Night To The Rain. British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
Above  John Akomfrah, Canto I, Listening All Night To The Rain. British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
The Wick - John Akomfrah, Canto IV, Listening All Night To The Rain. British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
Above  John Akomfrah, Canto IV, Listening All Night To The Rain. British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
The Wick - John Akomfrah, Canto VII, Listening All Night To The Rain. British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
Above  John Akomfrah, Canto VII, Listening All Night To The Rain. British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
The Wick - John Akomfrah, Canto V, Listening All Night To The Rain. British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
Above  John Akomfrah, Canto V, Listening All Night To The Rain. British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
The Wick - John Akomfrah, Canto-VIII, Listening All Night To The Rain British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
Above  John Akomfrah, Canto-VIII, Listening All Night To The Rain British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
The Wick - Still from Listening All Night To The Rain by John Akomfrah, commissioned by the British Council. Courtesy of Lisson gallery and Smoking Dogs Films. Copyright Smoking Dogs Films
Above  Still from Listening All Night To The Rain by John Akomfrah, commissioned by the British Council. Courtesy of Lisson gallery and Smoking Dogs Films. Copyright Smoking Dogs Films
The Wick - Still from Listening All Night To The Rain by John Akomfrah, commissioned by the British Council. Courtesy of Lisson gallery and Smoking Dogs Films. Copyright Smoking Dogs Films
Above  Still from Listening All Night To The Rain by John Akomfrah, commissioned by the British Council. Courtesy of Lisson gallery and Smoking Dogs Films. Copyright Smoking Dogs Films
The Wick - Still from Listening All Night To The Rain by John Akomfrah, commissioned by the British Council. Courtesy of Lisson gallery and Smoking Dogs Films. Copyright Smoking Dogs Films
Above  Still from Listening All Night To The Rain by John Akomfrah, commissioned by the British Council. Courtesy of Lisson gallery and Smoking Dogs Films. Copyright Smoking Dogs Films
The Wick - Still from Listening All Night To The Rain by John Akomfrah, commissioned by the British Council. Courtesy of Lisson gallery and Smoking Dogs Films. Copyright Smoking Dogs Films
Above  Still from Listening All Night To The Rain by John Akomfrah, commissioned by the British Council. Courtesy of Lisson gallery and Smoking Dogs Films. Copyright Smoking Dogs Films
The Wick - John Akomfrah and Tarini Malik, British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
Above  John Akomfrah and Tarini Malik, British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
The Wick - John Akomfrah, Canto I, Listening All Night To The Rain. British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
Above  John Akomfrah, Canto I, Listening All Night To The Rain. British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
The Wick - John Akomfrah, Canto IV, Listening All Night To The Rain. British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
Above  John Akomfrah, Canto IV, Listening All Night To The Rain. British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
The Wick - John Akomfrah, Canto VII, Listening All Night To The Rain. British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
Above  John Akomfrah, Canto VII, Listening All Night To The Rain. British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
The Wick - John Akomfrah, Canto V, Listening All Night To The Rain. British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
Above  John Akomfrah, Canto V, Listening All Night To The Rain. British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
The Wick - John Akomfrah, Canto-VIII, Listening All Night To The Rain British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
Above  John Akomfrah, Canto-VIII, Listening All Night To The Rain British Pavilion, 2024 Photo by Jack Hems
The Wick - Still from Listening All Night To The Rain by John Akomfrah, commissioned by the British Council. Courtesy of Lisson gallery and Smoking Dogs Films. Copyright Smoking Dogs Films
Above  Still from Listening All Night To The Rain by John Akomfrah, commissioned by the British Council. Courtesy of Lisson gallery and Smoking Dogs Films. Copyright Smoking Dogs Films
The Wick - Still from Listening All Night To The Rain by John Akomfrah, commissioned by the British Council. Courtesy of Lisson gallery and Smoking Dogs Films. Copyright Smoking Dogs Films
Above  Still from Listening All Night To The Rain by John Akomfrah, commissioned by the British Council. Courtesy of Lisson gallery and Smoking Dogs Films. Copyright Smoking Dogs Films
The Wick - Still from Listening All Night To The Rain by John Akomfrah, commissioned by the British Council. Courtesy of Lisson gallery and Smoking Dogs Films. Copyright Smoking Dogs Films
Above  Still from Listening All Night To The Rain by John Akomfrah, commissioned by the British Council. Courtesy of Lisson gallery and Smoking Dogs Films. Copyright Smoking Dogs Films
The Wick - Still from Listening All Night To The Rain by John Akomfrah, commissioned by the British Council. Courtesy of Lisson gallery and Smoking Dogs Films. Copyright Smoking Dogs Films
Above  Still from Listening All Night To The Rain by John Akomfrah, commissioned by the British Council. Courtesy of Lisson gallery and Smoking Dogs Films. Copyright Smoking Dogs Films

John Akomfrah, Listening All Night To The Rain

British Pavilion, La Biennale d’Arte di Venezia, Venice,
20 April – 24 November, 2024

Sir John Akomfrah RA represents Great Britain at this year’s 60th International Art Exhibition. Curated by this week’s Monday Muse, Tarini Malik (who tells us more about the pavilion in our interview) Listening All Night To The Rain is an eclectic exploration, conceived as a single installation with a staggering eight interconnected multi-screen sound and time-based works. Akomfrah expands on themes he has explored for decades – memory, migration, injustice and climate change – but here also communes with the ‘ghosts’ of the pavilion. Akomfrah invites audiences to be immersed, and to listen – and perhaps, come out feeling a little different about the world.


Share story
Dates
20 April 2024 — 24 November 2024
READ MORE
The Wick - Shaqúelle Whyte Backing off but not too far, 2023 oil on canvas Photo: Eva Herzog
The Wick List

Viewing Shaqúelle Whyte’s beguiling paintings of brawling crowds and folklore familiars 

The Wick - Copperhead-Bite IV / ROCI CHILE, 1985 Silkscreen ink, acrylic and tarnish on copper
The Wick List

Viewing Rauschenberg’s unprecedented project of art as a tool for change is revived in London

The Wick - Sukaina Kubba, Corners of Your Sky, Ankaa, 2022, alcohol ink on flesh-coloured latex. Photo by Alison Posta
The Wick List

Viewing Sukaina Kubba turns Scottish carpets into cross-cultural conversations

The Wick - Allen Jones Cover Story-2_4-composition-with-leather-accessories-and-brass-support-2021.-©-Courtesy-Galleria-dArte-Maggiore-Allen-Jones.jpg
The Wick List

Viewing A surreal and sexy show explores the meaning of breasts in art

The Wick - Sarah Sze Cascade, 2024 © Sarah Sze Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro
The Wick List

Viewing Sarah Sze's suite of new paintings at Victoria Miro

The Wick - Yinka Shonibare CBE, Decolonised Structures, 2022-23. Fibreglass sculptures, hand-painted with Dutch wax pattern, gold leaf and wooden plinths. Dimensions variable. Commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation. Courtesy of the artist and Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, Johannesburg, London and New York, James Cohan Gallery, New York and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York. Photographer: Stephen White & Co. © Yinka Shonibare CBE
The Wick List

Viewing Yinka Shonibare’s dazzling “Suspended States” take over Serpentine South