Artist/Director: John Akomfrah
Premiere: Venice Biennale 2015

Vertigo Sea a three-screen film, first seen at the 56th Venice Biennale as part of Okwui Enwezor’s All the World’s Futures exhibition, is a sensual, poetic and cohesive meditation on man's relationship with the sea and exploration of its role in the history of slavery, migration, and conflict. Fusing archival material, readings from classical sources, and newly shot footage, the work explicitly highlights the greed, horror and cruelty of the whaling industry. This material is then juxtaposed with shots of African migrants crossing the ocean in a journey fraught with danger in hopes of ‘better life’ and thus delivering a timely and potent reminder of the current issues around global migration, the refugee crisis, slavery, alongside ecological concerns.

Shot on the Isle of Skye, the Faroe Islands and the Northern regions of Norway, with the BBC’s Bristol based Natural History Unit, Vertigo Sea draws upon two remarkable books: Herman Melville’s Moby Dick (1851) and Heathcote Williams’ epic poem Whale Nation (1988), a harrowing and inspiring work which charts the history, intelligence and majesty of the largest mammal on earth.

ACCOLADES & REVIEWS

Artes Mundi Prize - Winner
South Bank Sky Arts Award - Nominated
The Guardian - "A pained lyric to a passing world"
The Telegraph - "Sumptuous and deeply disquieting"
The Guardian - "Seductive and harrowing"

EXHIBITION HISTORY

Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt / Nov ‘23 - Jan ‘24
National Museum Cardiff / Oct ‘21 - Jun ‘23
Towner Gallery Eastbourne / May - Sep ‘21
MAC Montreal / Feb - Apr ‘21
The Store X London / Oct - Dec ‘18
New Museum New York / Jun - Sep ‘18
MoMA San Francisco / Mar - Sep ‘18
Talbot Rice Edinburgh / Oct '17 - Jan '18
Potter Museum of Art Melbourne Apr - Jul ‘17
Whitworth Manchester / Mar - 23 Jul ‘17
Turner Contemporary Bristol Oct '16 - Jan '17
CoCA Christchurch / May - Aug ‘16
The Exchange Penzance / Apr - Jun ‘16
Nikolaj Kunsthal Copenhagen / Feb - May ‘16
Arnolfini Bristol / Jan - Apr ‘16
Venice Biennale Venice / May - Nov ‘15