Once Again... (Statues Never Die), Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia

Renowned for his multi-screen installations, Sir Isaac Julien is one of Britain’s most influential and critically acclaimed artists.

Julien’s latest work, Once Again... (Statues Never Die) (2022), is a mesmerising and immersive five-screen black-and-white installation film which explores the relationship and correspondence between art collector Albert C. Barnes (1872–1951) and prominent philosopher, educator and cultural leader Alain Locke (1885–1954).

Barnes, an early collector of African material culture in the US and founder of the Barnes Collection, and Locke, the first African-American Rhodes Scholar and a key figure of the 1920s–30s cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance, animate discussions about African art and its place in global art histories.

Once Again (Statues Never Die) stars actor André Holland. (Moonlight and Passing) as Alain Locke, Danny Huston (Succession and Marlowe) as Dr. Barnes, rising star Devon Terrell as sculptor Richmond Barthé, and Sharlene Whyte (Small Axe and Lessons of the Hour) as the curator. It also features a special appearance by singer and songwriter Alice Smith.

Once Again... (Statues Never Die) examines the significant and often neglected place of African objects in numerous collections of western art museums. Using poetic reparation and historical archives – drawing on Julien’s extensive research into the archives of the Barnes Foundation – the film explores the reciprocal impact of Locke’s political philosophy and cultural organising activities on Dr. Barnes’s pioneering art collecting and his democratic, inclusive educational enterprise.

Images courtesy Isaac Julien and Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, © the artist, photography: Zan Wimberley