The Brand Will Support a Special Installation by Artist John Akomfrah
Daniel Lee is continuing to expand Burberry’s support for British art on a grand scale. The luxury British label will serve as the headline sponsor of the British Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale, marking the second consecutive year of the sponsorship.
Running from April 20 to November 24, this international contemporary art exhibition will see a significant presence from Burberry.
John Akomfrah, a prominent British artist and writer, has been selected by the British Council to represent Great Britain at the event. He will present his latest work, “Listening All Night to the Rain,” focusing on themes of memory, migration, racial injustice, and climate change.
Skinder Hundal, the director of arts at the British Council, commented on Akomfrah’s work, stating, “‘Listening All Night to the Rain’ promises to be aesthetically brilliant, contextually rich, and provocative. Akomfrah’s immersive style has a mesmerizing quality, reaching and touching the hearts and consciousness of audiences often unseen or unheard, which is fitting for this body of work that encourages the idea of listening as activism.”
Other recent art-focused activations from the brand included a sponsorship of the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, during which awarded the Thomas Burberry Prize for Print to Christine Wilkinson. During Frieze London, Lee hosted a dinner event for artist Sarah Lucas in celebration of the opening of her exhibition “Happy Gas,” at Tate Britain, which Burberry supported.
Lee has also enlisted an impressive array of London-based artists and musicians for his ad campaigns for the brand, as well as collecting and commissioning unique artworks for some of the brand’s boutiques.