John Akomfrah

At a time when, according to the UN, greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are at their highest levels in history, with people experiencing the significant impacts of climate change, including shifting weather patterns, rising sea level, and more extreme weather events, Akomfrah’s Purple brought a multitude of ideas into conversation.

These included animal extinctions, the memory of ice, the plastic ocean and global warming. Akomfrah combined hundreds of hours of archival footage with newly shot film and a hypnotic sound score to produce the video installation.

Winner of the 2017 Artes Mundi Prize.

Download the Teacher Resource (pdf)