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 for the in-conversation is essential. Please click below to reserve your ticket.

The conversation will be followed by an exhibition preview from 6.30–8pm, all welcome.

Details of the evening below:

Thursday 6 February 2025

Doors open at 5PM

Talk begins promptly at 5:30PM

Spaces are limited

Followed by

Special Exhibition Preview

6.30–8pm

Drinks will be served

White Cube Bermondsey | 144-152 Bermondsey Street London SE1 3TQ

Theaster Gates, Bermondsey (2025) | White Cube

Theaster Gates in-conversation with John Akomfrah and Zoé Whitley