John Akomfrah’s Arcadia: Five Screens Connect Nature and History
| KEYWORD_WORLD · Culture · 4 November 2026 |
John Akomfrah’s Arcadia opens at London’s Natural History Museum on 6 November, bringing a five-screen film about nature, migration and colonial history into a science museum. The installation is free; the museum recommends booking free general admission in advance for guaranteed entry.
The museum’s exhibition page places the work in the Jerwood Gallery at South Kensington. Its events listing gives the dates as 6 November 2026 to 3 May 2027. The exhibition is upcoming at the time of this article’s check.
What is on the five screens?
Rather than following one image on a single screen, viewers encounter a film installation: images play across several screens in the same space. The museum describes landscapes including deserts, ice, mountains and seas, interrupted by images of cargo, ships and disease.
The sound includes nature recordings, opera and poetry, according to the museum. Its announcement says the film lasts just under an hour and plays on a loop. You can plan enough time for a full cycle if you want to see how its images return and connect.
One way to watch is to notice what appears on neighbouring screens at the same time. Then listen for a change in sound: does it make the images feel connected, or place them in tension? These are viewing prompts; the exhibition has not opened yet.
What does the Columbian Exchange mean?
The museum describes it as the movement of people, plants, animals, goods, technologies, diseases and ideas between the Americas and Afro-Eurasia from the 1400s onward. Arcadia considers the lasting environmental and social effects of those connections.
The word “exchange” can sound like an equal transaction. History also involved conquest, colonial violence and forced movement. A Smithsonian guide to Taíno history describes how colonial rule, disease and the enslavement of Indigenous and African people shaped the Caribbean. The film invites a broader reflection on how human histories and changing environments meet.
Why show it in a natural history museum?
The setting puts an artist’s questions alongside collections used to study life on Earth. The museum says its specimens also carry histories of the people and places involved in scientific discovery. After the film, it suggests visiting the nearby Fixing Our Broken Planet gallery to explore contemporary science and nature-based responses.
The London presentation is a new location for an existing work. The museum describes it as the film’s London debut; Spike Island Exhibition Services documents an earlier 2023 presentation at The Box in Plymouth. A new venue can change the surrounding conversation without making the film a new production.
Plan a visit
The exhibition itself is free and needs no separate ticket. The museum recommends reserving a free general admission ticket in advance for guaranteed entry. Check the museum’s current page for availability and access before travelling.
Allow up to an hour for the looping film if you hope to see it all, plus time for the galleries. Screen content and the museum’s wider collections offer different kinds of evidence: one is an artist’s film, the other includes specimens and scientific interpretation.
Related reading
What changes when you encounter a film across several screens? Share your thoughts in the comments or send this guide to a friend who enjoys art and science.
Sources and dates: Natural History Museum exhibition page, events listing and 30 September 2026 announcement; Smithsonian Taíno guide; Spike Island presentation record. Checked 4 November 2026 KST, when it was 3 November in London. Viewing suggestions are editorial.
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