Exhibitions Hub commission for Goldsmiths graduate

New work inspired by a film about the fatal shooting of a young black man outside a police station in 1982 has been commissioned by Goldsmiths, University of London’s Exhibitions Hub and London Community Video Archive.

Filmmaker, animator, painter and Goldsmiths graduate Djofray Makumbu will receive mentoring, a fee and production budget to create a public event or exhibition of his art work. 

Makumbu’s proposal was inspired by extracts from the 1983 film Who Killed Colin Roach? by Isaac Julien. The film reflects on the death of 21-year-old Roach who was killed by a gunshot in the foyer of a police station in Stoke Newington in 1982. While Roach’s death was deemed a suicide at inquest, allegations of a police cover-up prompted protests and demands for a public inquiry into the case. 

The commission is the first awarded by the newly-formed Exhibitions Hub from the Department of Art at Goldsmiths, in collaboration with the London Community Video Archive (LCVA), which is hosted by the Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies. 

Born in London in 1994, Djofray Makumbu attended the Goldsmiths Summer School and studied BA Fine Art at Goldsmiths from 2014-2017. He won the ALUMNO/SPACE award in 2018-2019 – a year-long residency in a Camberwell art studio supported by a stipend from the Department of Art.    

As a multi-disciplinary and experimental artist, Makumbu works with flash motion, video, in 2D and 3D, drawing, photography, painting, clay animation and sculpture, exploring themes that include the difficulties of life with dyslexia and his experiences of being a young black man growing up in inner-city London.

Upon being awarded the LCVA-Exhibitions Hub commission he said: "I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue to develop my work through this commission. No words can describe my joy.”  

The LCVA is a volunteer-led organisation which preserves, archives and shares community videos made in 1970s and 80s London and the South East, many of which were produced with a commitment to social empowerment and combating exclusion. 

The Exhibitions Hub in the Department of Art was launched in 2020 to support public-facing exhibitions held by students and alumni. The Exhibitions Hub is also developing partnerships and curatorial initiatives to connect research and practice at Goldsmiths with external venues and audiences.    

Makumbu was nominated for inaugural commission by Ed Webb-Ingall from the LCVA, artist and BAFA lecturer Rehana Zaman, Exhibitions Hub Curator Nora Heidorn, and Nick Grimmer, Director of the Exhibitions Hub.  

The timeline of this project has been adjusted due to the Covid-19 pandemic but news about the public presentation of the artist’s work will follow later this year. Follow the Exhibitions Hub on Instagram for updates. 

Find out more about Djofray Makumbu: www.djofraymakumbu.com

Find out more about LCVA: www.the-cva.co.uk

Follow the Goldsmiths Exhibitions Hub on Instagram: @goldexhibitions