A recording of this talk is available to watch below ↓

Join us for an online talk by artist Harold Offeh, where he will be discussing Black bodies in the landscape, focussing on his film Body Landscape Memory. Symphonic Variations on an African Air, Op.63, 2019.

Accompanying the talk, San Mei Gallery will be hosting an online screening of Body Landscape Memory. Symphonic Variations on an African Air, Op.63 on our website from 12–18 April. 

The film focusses on the presentation of Black bodies in the landscape. Moving away from stereotypes of the labouring or victimised body, the work explores leisure, play and connections to the physical environment.

Taking source material from popular culture: fashion photography, album covers and advertising, the piece presents a series of poses and gestures. Harold Offeh performs with collaborators Ebun Sodipo and Samra Mayanja. The performance is set to the music of early 20th century Black British classical composer Samuel Colridge-Taylor. His work Symphonic Variations on an African Air, Op.63 1905 tries to image an African landscape he never had a change to visit in his lifetime.

This event has been organised in conjunction with the exhibition The Herbarium's Shadow by Matthew Beach.

A zoom link will be sent to ticket holders prior to the event.

Harold Offeh is an artist working in a range of media including performance, video, photography, learning and social arts practice. Offeh is interested in the space created by the inhabiting or embodying of histories. He employs humour as a means to confront the viewer with historical narratives and contemporary culture. He has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally including Tate Britain and Tate Modern, South London Gallery, Turf Projects, London, Kettle's Yard, Cambridge, Wysing Art Centre, Studio Museum Harlem, New York, MAC VAL, France, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Denmark and Art Tower Mito.

Talk