John Akomfrah places the person and ideas of Jamaican-born Stuart Hall at the center of his film “The Unfinished Conversation.” Hall is of multi-ethnic origin and addresses hybridity and the processual nature of cultural identity. Hall finds his first musical home in jazz. He repeatedly refers to Miles Davis, the stylistic innovator, stylistic transformer, and stylistic combinator, whom Akomfrah also included in the soundtrack of his work about Hall.
This sets a musical starting point, which is supplemented in the DJ set by further references to Hall, such as Afro-diasporic Island Music, but also specific musicians such as Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, and Billie Holiday. In keeping with Hall and Akomfrah’s intentions, the “Unfinished Conversation” is continued and expanded, including an area that Stuart Hall only hinted at, namely the position of female musicians, such as Afro-jazz musician Mary Lou Williams.
Martin Georgi, DJ and musician of English-Sinhalese origin, and Holger Lund, hybrid pop researcher, take up the theme of hybrid music in their DJ set, focusing on Afro-diasporic developments and then opening it up to global music hybrids.
An event in the Conversation Room of the exhibition John Akomfrah – The Unfinished Conversation, in collaboration with Cornelia Lund (fluctuating images, Berlin) as guest curator.
Recorded set pt. 1: https://www.fluctuating-images.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Akomfrah-Conversation-Room-DJing-25.10.2025-Kunstmuseum-Ravensburg-1.mp3
Recorded Set pt. 2: https://www.fluctuating-images.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Akomfrah-Conversation-Room-DJing-25.10.2025-Kunstmuseum-Ravensburg-2.mp3
