John Akomfrah's Auto Da Fé on view at KUBE, Ålesund

22 March 2021

Now open at the Jugendstilsenteret & KUBE in Ålesund, Norway, until 3 October 2021, 'Am I Human to You?' brings together works by John Akomfrah, Per Inge Bjørlo, Anders Holen, Harminder Judge, Amy Karle, William Kentridge, Lawrence Lek, Britt Sorte, and Liv Dysthe Sønderland, as it seeks to shed light on the age-old philosophical question: what does it mean to be human? The exhibition explores the origins and rise of humanism, it's successes and failures, and a present reevaluating of humanist ideals as they relate to our greater ecosystem.

Featured in 'Am I Human to You?' is John Akomfrah's 2016 film Auto Da Fé, which looks at migration through the lens of religious persecution. Translating to English as 'Acts of Faith', the film is presented as a poetic period drama, depicting a series of eight historical migrations over the last 400 years, starting with the little known 1654 fleeing of Sephardic Jews from Catholic Brazil to Barbados.

KUBE is currently closed due to local Coronavirus restrictions. Find further information and detials of its reopening here.

Image © Smoking Dogs Films; Courtesy Smoking Dogs Films and Art Museum KUBE. Photography by Kristin Stoylen.