Handsworth Songs

Director: John Akomfrah
Cast: Pervaiz Khan, Meera Syal, Yvonne Weekes
UK, 1986, 58', HDD, color
English with Turkish subtitles

A film essay on race and civil disorder in 1980s Britain and the inner city riots of 1985, Handsworth Songs takes as its point of departure the civil disturbances of September and October 1985 in the Birmingham district of Handsworth and in the urban centres of London. Running throughout the film is the idea that the riots were the outcome of a protracted suppression by British society of black presence. The film portrays civil disorder as an opening onto a secret history of dissatisfaction that is connected to the national drama of industrial decline.

The ‘Songs’ of the title do not reference musicality but instead invoke the idea of documentary as a poetic montage of associations familiar from the British documentary cinema of John Grierson and Humphrey Jennings. Handsworth Songs won Britain’s most prestigious award for documentaries, the British Film Institute Grierson Award Best Documentary in 1986.

Handsworth Songs

Handsworth Songs

Testament

Testament

Who Needs A Heart

Who Needs A Heart

Speak Like A Child

Speak Like A Child

The Nine Muses

The Nine Muses

Giorgio de Chirico

Giorgio de Chirico

Giorgio de Chirico was born on July 10, 1888, in Volos, Greece, to an Italian family. His mother, Gemma Cervetto, was from a family of Genoa origin, but most likely she was born in Izmir. His father, Evaristo, was born on June 21, 1841 in the Büyükdere district of Istanbul.

Explore the Museum with the Little Yellow Circle!

Explore the Museum with the Little Yellow Circle!

Published as part of Pera Learning programs, “The Little Yellow Circle (Küçük Sarı Daire)” is a children’s book written by Tania Bahar and illustrated by Marina Rico, offering children and adults to a novel learning experience where they can share and discover together.

Good News from the Skies

Good News from the Skies

Inspired by the exhibition And Now the Good News, which focusing on the relationship between mass media and art, we prepared horoscope readings based on the chapters of the exhibition. Using the popular astrological language inspired by the effects of the movements of celestial bodies on people, these readings with references to the works in the exhibition make fictional future predictions inspired by the horoscope columns that we read in the newspapers with the desire to receive good news about our day.