A novel way to see moving images

Photo of Sir Isaac Julien: © Thierry Bal

Daniel Nelson

If you plan to see Sir Isaac Julien’s exhibition at Tate Britain, What Freedom Is To Me, you might need to set aside three-and-a-half  hours.

That’s about the combined screening time of all his films in the show.

In reality, you might not want to see every one of the films. You might, for example, watch Western Union: Small Boats 2007 but skim Linda Bo Bardi – A Marvellous Entanglement, or prefer Looking for Langston 1989 to Vagabondia 2000.

But all are interesting and superbly crafted and they cover many interests - from the 2004 drowning of more than 23 Chinese cockleshell pickers on the Lancashire coast to homosexuality, and from Frederick Douglass on slavery to a discourse on African and European art..

“Dance, theatre, music, sculpture, painting. All of these different modes of art-making are encapsulated into my practice which is why I chose film as a medium for making my work,” says the artist, born in London to parents from St Lucia. The Caribbean exerts a major influence throughout the exhibition.

“Radically and aesthetically I want to aim for an experience that can offer a novel way to see moving images, in its choice of subject, in how it’s displayed, in how it’s been shot … in every aspect. Since i entered the art world that’s what it’s been all about.”

It’s an outstanding exhibition and a pleasure to inhabit, with a scene-setting timeline at the beginning, alongside his first film, and a central room from which corridors lead you to the cinematic worlds he created.

It’s really worth the time.

*  Isaac Julien: What Freedom Is To Me, retrospective, £17, Tate Britain, Millbank, SW1P 4RG, until 20 August.

+ 10 June, In Conversation: Isaak Julien, 2-3.30pm, free

+ 21 June, In Conversation: Isaak Julien with Maria Balshaw, 6.30-8pm, £10/£7