Join us for a series of screenings, talks and workshops organized in collaboration between Lagos-based Monangambee and London-based Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA, @icalondon) with the support of the British Council (@britisharts), engaging artists of African descent and the diaspora in conversation with John Akomfrah’s oeuvre, in terms of aesthetics, practice and social commitments. This project was prompted by John Akomfrah’s work at the 2024 Venice Biennale, Listening All Night to the Rain. 

Water as a literal and metaphorical element, particularly the Atlantic Ocean, is spotlighted in this program as the locus of longing, regeneration and return for individuals and generations in West Africa and its diaspora. These films question the manners in which the project of globalization and racial capitalism attempt to sever the inextricable relations and ecologies between Black populations and the water bodies that sustain them. In Watery Yearnings, water is presented as a site for sustainable lives, healing, and rest. 

Preceded by a film and storytelling workshop with the multidisciplinary artist Olukemi Lijadu (details to follow soon). 

 Films: 

 1. Drexciya, Akosua Adoma Owusu, 2010, Ghana, 13mn @akosuadoma 

 2. Life on the Horn, Mo Harawe, 2020, Somalia, 25mn @moharawe 

 3. Aqua, Samba Félix N’diaye, 1992, Senegal, 12mn 

 4. In Praise of Still Boys, Julianknxx, 2021, Sierra Leone, 5mn @julianknxx 

 5. Testament, John Akomfrah, 1988, UK/Ghana, 88mn