John Akomfrah - Mimesis: African Soldier

GoMA's next main gallery exhibition is John Akomfrah’s Mimesis: African Soldier, a film installation which will be shown across three screens.

It reflects on the experience of soldiers from across the Commonwealth in World War 1, and aims to highlight the significant contribution of over six million African, Caribbean and South Asian people from across former colonies who fought, served, and died in the war. 

Fittingly, the exhibition opens in the closing days of Black History Month, and just two weeks before Remembrance Sunday, which this year commemorates 110 years since the start of World War 1.

About the artist

Sir John Akomfrah CBE RA lives and works in London as an artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member of the influential Black Audio Film Collective, which started in London in 1982 alongside artists David Lawson and Lina Gopaul, who he still collaborates with today alongside Ashitey Akomfrah as Smoking Dogs Films. He represented Great Britain at the Venice Biennale 2024. 

Akomfrah explores personal and collective histories, cultural identity, and the experiences of Black British and global migrant diasporas through his work. He combines archival footage with his contemporary film and soundscapes to shed light on lives and experiences often hidden by a more dominant colonial narrative. His non-linear approach raises questions about how the past affects present tensions, racism and inequality in society.

More about the exhibition 

Mimesis: African Soldier is shown across three screens, which allow us to see different perspectives and narratives at the same time. The screens display archival footage and reimagined contemporary views of historical military experiences alongside still life [nature morte] scenes, with flowing water running over objects, flags and photographs related to the soldiers. Akomfrah uses montage techniques and bricolage, weaving together new footage with archival material and still photography. This poetic approach to history and archives draws attention to overlooked stories, Britain’s historical role in conflict across the colonies, and the impact on people of colour today. 

There is no spoken narrative in the work, instead poignant quotes, an emotive soundscape including song, and words (such as disenchantment, disgust, rude awakening) appear on the screen to function as pauses or titles interspersing the powerful images and archives that we are witness to. These words encapsulate what we are seeing unfold before us and echo the soldiers’ journey and conscription into a war that is not of their making. 

Credits

Presented by Art Fund and 14-18 NOW, the UK’s arts programme for the First World War centenary, to Bristol Museum and Art Gallery and Glasgow Life Museums, Mimesis: African Soldier was commissioned by 14-18 NOW, with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England and the Department for Digital Culture Media and Sport, New Art Exchange, Nottingham and Smoking Dogs Films, with additional support from Sharjah Art Foundation.

Image shows a still from John Akomfrah; Mimesis : African Soldier, 2018
(Three channel HD colour video installation, 7.1 sound
Dimensions variable, 73 minutes)

Courtesy Smoking Dogs Films and Lisson Gallery.