2012 FASS Distinguished Visiting Scholar – Studies in Art and Culture: Acclaimed director and activist John Akomfrah

Presented by The School for Studies in Art and Culture and in association with several other FASS units, this year’s Distinguished Visiting Scholar (November 25-30) is John Akomfrah, a pre-eminent maverick British-Ghanaian film director, artist, musician, critic, lecturer and political activist.

Akomfrah was a founder-member of the critically acclaimed and highly influential Black Audio Film Collective (1982-98), a seminal cine-cultural workshop organization, and was a key figure in the Collective’s commitment to using film and other media to examine issues of Black history and identity.

His body of professional creative work spans three decades and is renowned for its complexity, depth and breadth. Indeed, as an artist, lecturer, critic and film director, Akomfrah is widely considered to be among the most distinctive and innovative artists working in World Cinema. In addition, beginning in the early 1980s he gained respect and fame for his strikingly impressive range of interdisciplinary work: single-screen art gallery installations, experimental videos and music videos, in addition to fiction films and creative documentaries.  His work has always traversed the worlds of fiction and non-fiction, cinema and television, the art gallery and the film festival. He is a genuinely interdisciplinary artist and thinker of the first order.

The attached poster identifies the public events – including film screenings – associated with Akomfrah’s visit. A more detailed list of his activities during his time in Ottawa – including background notes on each of the films that will be screened nightly during his visit – is available here.

Please take advantage of the scheduled events to learn more about the internationally important body of work that has earned Akomfrah a wide range of honours, including his 2008 appointment as Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

Co-op Information Session for BA students

All first- and second-year students in the English, French and History honours-level programs are invited to the co-op information session on Wednesday, Nov. 21, at 5:30 p.m., in 1501 CTTC Building.  More information