Film Sessions at the Filmoteca de Catalunya, in the context of the exhibition John Akomfrah. Vertigo Sea

On the occasion of the exhibition John Akomfrah. Vertigo Sea, the Fundació Antoni Tàpies presents, in collaboration with the Filmoteca de Catalunya, two films by this artist and filmmaker of Ghanaian origin.

© Smoking Dogs Films; Courtesy Smoking Dogs Films and Lisson Gallery

Thursday, 8 April 2021, at 7 p.m., in the Sala Laya of the Filmoteca de Catalunya: Handsworth Songs (1986), with a presentation by Neus Miró.

Handsworth Songs (1986) was Akomfrah’s first film as a director. Produced by the Black Audio Film Collective (1982–98), of which he was a member and co-founder, the film was a response to the social unrest that took place in Birmingham and London in October 1985, following the deaths of a black woman and a white policeman. Akomfrah combines archive photographs, interviews and snippets of television news broadcasts to show persistent racism in Britain and the violent police repression of black communities.

© Smoking Dogs Films; Courtesy Smoking Dogs Films and Lisson Gallery

Thursday, 15 April 2021, at 7 p.m., in the Sala Laya of the Filmoteca de Catalunya: Martin Luther King and The March on Washington (2013), with a presentation by Tania Adam.

Thuesday, 20 April 2021, at 4 p.m., in the Sala Laya of the Filmoteca de Catalunya: Martin Luther King and The March on Washington (2013).

Martin Luther King and The March on Washington (2013) is a film about the March on Washington, the historic event during which Martin Luther King delivered the his famous speech ‘I have a dream’. The film combines interviews with the March participants – members of the organising groups, activists, senators –, with archival images. The sessions will be presented by Neus Miró, freelance art critic and curator, and Tania Adam, journalist and cultural producer, respectively.

Neus Miró
A freelance art critic and curator, she has a degree in Art History (University of Barcelona), a Master’s in Curating Contemporary Art (Royal College of Art, London) and a doctorate (Central Saint Martins, London). Between 2014 and 2019 she worked as a curator at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery (UK).
Her field of research has focused on artistic practices in film and video, and on the theory and practice of exhibition. Recent curatorial projects include the exhibition John Akomfrah: La Tierra es plana (CAAC, 2020–21); participation on the curatorial team of Apología/Antología; Recorridos por el vídeo en el contexto español (Hamaca, 2016); Insomnia (Fundació Joan Miró, 2013); Sharon Lockhart: Double Tide (Espai d’Art Contemporani de Castelló, 2012); Ficciones Urbanas (Koldo Mitxelena, 2011); Objetos desclasificados (CaixaForum Barcelona, 2010); and Los tiempos de un lugar (CDAN, 2009).
She has published in catalogues and magazines (Afterall, Exit Express, L’Avenç, Transversal) and was the editor of the art section of Benzina magazine between 2006 and 2011.

Tania Adam

Journalist and cultural producer, founder of Radio Africa Magazine. She curated the project Microhistòries de la diàspora. Experiències ‘encarnades’ de la dispersió femenina (La Virreina, 2018–19); the programme of activities of Making Africa. Un continent de disseny contemporani (CCCB, 2016); the ‘Africalisme al CCCB’ programme (CCCB, 2016); and the Espai Avinyó exhibitions (2011–12). She is preparing the exhibition Blue Black Futures (MACBA, 2022). She is the presenter of Radio Africa (Betevé Radio, 2018–); of the Terrícoles interview programme (Betevé 2017–19); and of the ‘African Bubblegum Music’ programme on Radio Primavera Sound (2019). She has written the scripts for the activity ‘Històries de l’art des de Barcelona’ (MACBA, 2020) and the documentary Expressions de l’Africa negra a Barcelona (2009). She has published articles in El Salto, El Crític, La Directa, Africa is a Country, Ctxt, La Maleta de Portbou, etc. She has coordinated, moderated and participated in multiple round tables and conferences at MACBA, CCCB, El Born Centre Cultural, Matadero Madrid, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Bamako Photography Biennial, Biennal del Pensament de Barcelona, Centro Internacional de Cultura Contemporánea Tabakalera, etc.