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THE UNFINISHED CONVERSATION JOHN AKOMFRAH

11 May, 2013 at 12:00 am - 14 Jul, 2013 at 12:00 am

New Art Exchange (NAE) is proud to present The Unfinished Conversation by John Akomfrah, a beautiful, moving and multi-layered film about Jamaican-born academic Stuart Hall. The piece, commissioned by Autograph ABP, premiered at the 2012 Liverpool Biennial to overwhelming critical acclaim.

The Unfinished Conversation is presented as an immersive three-channel video installation, and examines the nature of the visual as triggered across the individual’s memory landscape with particular reference to identity and race. The film sees academic Stuart Hall’s memories and personal archives extracted and relocated in an imagined and different time, reflecting the questionable nature of memory itself. The Unfinished Conversation looks at the theory that identity is not an essence or being but instead a becoming, where individual subjectivities are formed in both real and fictive spaces.

The Unfinished Conversation is an Autograph ABP Commission. Executive producer Mark Sealy, Director of Autograph ABP. Produced by Lina Gopaul and David Lawson, Smoking Dogs Films in collaboration with Professor Stuart Hall.

As a co-founding member of the Black Audio Film Collective (1982), John Akomfrahachieved critical success in 1986 with his debut film documentary, Handsworth Songs.Through his celebrated technique of juxtaposing and layering archive footage with newand historical photo stills, soundscapes, personal testimonies and text, John investigatesand unpacks the complexities of identity through his practice. Previous films include:The Nine Muses (2010), Mnemosyne (2009), Seven Songs for Malcolm X (1993) and Handsworth Songs (1986). John Akomfrah is now recognised as one of Britain’s most pioneering and intellectually rewarding film-makers.

The project is funded by Arts Council England, Grants For Arts and supported by the Bluecoat, NAE, Nottingham and the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, Harvard University, Boston, Royal College Inspire Programme and Smoking Dogs Films. With kind support from NAXOS Audio Books, The Open University and BBC, Time/Image and Getty Images.

“Identities are formed at the unstable point where personal lives meet the narrative of history. Identity is an ever-unfinished conversation.” Stuart Hall

Please note screenings of the Unfinished Conversation start on the hour from 10am – 4pm. We advise viewing the full duration of the piece which is around 45 minutes.