Theaster Gates 1965: Malcolm in Winter: A Translation Exercise

Spanning the entirety of the Bermondsey galleries, Theaster Gates debuts a new series of works on the heels of his major solo exhibition, ‘Afro-Mingei’ at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo.

For ‘1965: Malcolm in Winter: A Translation Exercise’, the artist, who is the active steward of more than 10 historically and culturally significant collections, honours the carefully kept archive of the late journalist, Ei Nagata, and his partner, Haruhi Ishitani, who committed their lives to preserving Malcolm X’s legacy by translating his speeches and correspondence into Japanese following his assassination.

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.