Conversations: Theaster Gates with John Akomfrah and Zoé Whitley

To celebrate the opening of Theaster Gates’s major solo exhibition ‘1965: Malcolm in Winter: A Translation Exercise’ at White Cube Bermondsey, the artist will be joined in conversation by artist and filmmaker John Akomfrah and curator Zoé Whitley.

The exhibition marks Gates’s inaugural engagement with the carefully kept archive of the late Japanese journalist, Ei Nagata, and his partner, Haruhi Ishitani, who committed their lives to preserving Malcolm X’s legacy by translating his speeches and correspondence after his death.

Through a series of architectural interventions, large-scale installations, film works and archival presentations, the artist continues the careful work of the archive, revealing the truth of Blackness in Japan and formally translating the aesthetics and topography of the revolution.

Together, Gates, Akomfrah, and Whitley will conduct a critical exploration of the archive, Japanese solidarity with Black social movements, and the ways in which Gates is excavating the truth of Blackness in Asia.

RSVP is essential and spaces are limited. Please note, this event is now at capacity.

The conversation will be followed by a public exhibition preview from 6.30–8pm.