John Akomfrah (b. 1957, Accra, Ghana) is a Ghanaian-born British artist and filmmaker, celebrated for his profound explorations of memory, post-colonial history, temporality, and the lived experiences of migrant diasporas. His work is distinguished by richly layered visuals, archival material, and immersive soundscapes that probe both historical and contemporary questions of migration, identity, and the enduring legacies of colonialism. In 2024, Akomfrah presented Listening All Night to the Rain at the Venice Biennale, commissioned by the British Council, reaffirming his ongoing engagement with themes of belonging, displacement, and cultural memory on a global stage.
Akomfrah is a founding member of the influential Black Audio Film Collective, established in London in 1982. The collective’s landmark film Handsworth Songs (1986) remains a seminal response to the social unrest and racial tensions following the 1985 riots in Birmingham and London. Across his career, Akomfrah has continued to craft intricate, multi-screen installations and films that interweave personal narratives with broader political histories. Works such as The Unfinished Conversation (2012), a three-screen meditation on the life of cultural theorist Stuart Hall, and Mnemosyne(2010), examining migrant life in Britain, challenge dominant national myths and linear historical narratives.
His work has been exhibited internationally at institutions including the Barbican, SFMOMA, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, and the Venice Biennale, earning widespread recognition. He was awarded the Artes Mundi Prize in 2017 and was knighted in 2023 for his services to the arts. Through his visionary practice, Akomfrah continues to demonstrate how art can illuminate memory, confront history, and transform our understanding of culture, identity, and belonging on both a personal and global scale.