KWM artcenter is pleased to present its seventh collaboration with the Whitechapel Gallery, London from 18th May 2020 onwards. Due to the continuing Covid 19 restrictions, the screenings will be shown on KWM artcenter’s online and social media platforms until further notice. Throughout 2020, KWM artcenter will be screening a series of moving image works as part of the Artists’ Film International (AFI) project based on the theme of language. AFl celebrates moving image work and is selected by a global partnership of arts organisations including KWM artcenter. Each nominates outstanding work from their region which is screened across each venue during the year.

The second film this year is Junkanoo Talk (2017) by British artist Rhea Storr. The imagery unfolds like a language without words. Junkanoo is a carnival of the Bahamas; vivid shots of festival costumes are accompanied by sounds made on the body to the beats of Bahamian Rake ‘n’ Scrape. James Baldwin is quoted, speaking of the complexities of being an African American living in France, along with the Bahamian Tourism Minister who speaks of appropriation and the body as a voice. The film is selected by the Whitechapel Gallery, London.

About the artist

Rhea Storr (b. 1991, Leeds, UK) is an artist based in London. Her practice spans moving image, drawing and writing. She received an MA in Contemporary Art Practice from the Royal College of Art (2017) and a BFA from The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, University of Oxford (2013). She makes work about black and mixed-race identities, asking where images fail or resist us. She often works on 16mm film. Recent screenings include National Museum of African American History and Culture, US, European Media Art Festival, Hamburg International Short Film Festival, Kassel Doc Fest, Berwick Film and Media Art Festival and Aesthetica Short Film Festival. She is the winner of the inaugural Louis Le Prince Experimental Film Prize and teaches workshops at the film co-operative Not Nowhere.

金杜艺术中心（KWM artcenter）

The KWM artcenter opened on 20th October 2016. It is located on the second floor of the WFC centre CBD in Beijing. The Art center is supported by the law firm King & Wood Mallesons. The KWM artcenter presents and promotes artists both domestically and overseas as well as building up its own collection. In particular, it acts as a rare art institution at the heart of the economic central area in Beijing. It provides high-quality art educational activities and courses aimed to cultivate art lovers and collectors. It serves to improve the international influence of Chinese Art and become a powerful communicator of Chinese Contemporary Art.