In his five-channel film installation from 2023, Becoming Wind, Akomfrah creates an allegoricalrepresentation of the Garden of Eden and its disappearance. In elegiac black-and-white scenes, the installation evokes a past when an abundant diversity of plant and animal species still existed on the planet, while also directing a gaze at the precarious human centric ecosystem of the Anthropocene, the current epoch of climate change. Phrases frequently appear on the screens bearing sentiments that many people feel apply to them, relating to the climate crisis, for example: “We need to be quick” and “It moves among us.” Children are repeatedly seen playing on the beach or in the waves. Simultaneously the video accompanies trans* actors and activists in their everyday lives. The artist is interested in a specific experience from which something very universal can be read: the deep-seated need to be able to develop one’s own identity freely. The flexible identities of the future face challenges that have never existed before. This is where Akomfrah identifies intersections with dramatically changing ecological spaces and future adaptations to them. “We almost need to become wind-like to get there,” says the artist with respect to the rapid changes occur ring in the present day.
Exhibition History
‘A Space of Empathy’, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany (2023)
‘Thinking Historically in the Present’, Sharjah Biennial 15, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (2023)
Installation view, ‘A Space of Empathy’, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany (2023)
