Password: Courage
Petrichor (Gran Bretagna Al Crepuscolo) - (which is the Italian translation of Petrichor (Great Britain at Twilight)) - is a film installation consolidating Brown's research into Sir John Akomfrah's British Pavilion, Listening All Night To The Rain, at the 2024 Venice Biennale.
The film installation features an abstracted deconstruction of the British flag, surrounded by a metallic frame shrouded with a translucent veil, upon which are projected live footage and animations Brown collated, captured and created during the fellowship. It challenges the fictions upon which empires of exclusion are grounded, and refigures Listening All Night To The Rain by embodying the British Pavilion itself - an imperial facade re-framed for inclusive, imaginative, insightful storytelling.
The film installation features an abstracted deconstruction of the British flag, surrounded by a metallic frame shrouded with a translucent veil, upon which are projected live footage and animations Brown collated, captured and created during the fellowship. It challenges the fictions upon which empires of exclusion are grounded, and refigures Listening All Night To The Rain by embodying the British Pavilion itself - an imperial facade re-framed for inclusive, imaginative, insightful storytelling.
Overarching Project: John Akomfrah Research Fellowship, 2025
The Body of Research:
This project, Petrichor, took place across a 3-month research fellowship - the John Akomfrah Research Fellowship - which was initiated and funded by RCA BLK (an organisation, co-founded and chaired by Emily Moore, empowering Black and mixed-heritage Royal College of Art students and alumni), Lisson Gallery, and Smoking Dogs Films.
The fellowship enabled Brown to visit the 2024 Venice Biennale - a trip that catalysed his research at the Royal College of Art, with support from Lisson Gallery and Smoking Dogs Films.
Brown would like to give particular thanks to all those who supported him during the fellowship:
Thank you to Emily Moore, Ossian Ward, and Ekow Eshun, for selecting me for this fellowship, and for your support throughout what has been such a fantastic opportunity.
Thank you to Emily Alice Mitchell, it was a pleasure to undertake this fellowship alongside you, given so many cross-overs between our respective contemporary art practices.
Thank you to Shannon Bono, for your feedback and advice during this influential process.
Thank you to Chisom Ibe, for your advice and support with the sound collage for this film - your collaboration really helped push me out of my comfort zone and refine the scope and tone of the work.
Thank you to Xinli Li, for your insights and help with 2D character animation in this film - I sincerely appreciate your time and support, and your collaboration helped bring the character, and the environments surrounding them, to life.
Thank you to David Quartey, for your insights into research through sound production and composition.
Thank you to Gareth Proskourine-Barnett for your advice and support with this project - communicating research, embodying objects, and speculating upon transfigured landscapes, architectural interventions, and systems.
Thank you to the moving image, wood, and metal technicans at the Royal College of Art, for helping me assemble this sculpture - your support was invaluable.
Thank you to the people who so generously allowed me to interview them, whose voices you can hear throughout the film:
Nell Hardy (British Council Fellow and cultural mediator at the 2024 Venice Art Biennale's British Pavilion 'Listening All Night To The Rain', object-storyteller at the Museum of the Homeless, trauma-informed coach, actor, multi-arts facilitator, director, and founder of ResponseAbility Theatre);
Azu Nwagbogu (Curator of the 2024 Venice Art Biennale's Benin Pavilion Everything Precious is Fragile);
Chiara Celoria (Gallery manager at Victoria Miro Venice);
Shalom Thoma (Cultural mediator for the 2024 Venice Art Biennale's Dutch Pavilion The International Celebration of Blasphemy and the Sacred, and Italian sign language student);
Maša Šehović (Cultural mediator for the 2024 Venice Art Biennale's Nigeria Pavilion Nigeria Imaginary).
Thank you to Outset UK, for their generosity and kindness in allowing me to tag along with them on their tour of Venice's art exhibitions during the Biennale; your generosity enriched what was already a fabulous experience.
Thank you to the British Council Venice Fellows, who were so welcoming and accommodating at the British Pavilion, including Nell Hardy, Toni Adebajo, Simran Junaid, and Nazima Kalita.
And of course, a special thank you to Sir John Akomfrah, for actively building a legacy that inspires, and will continue to inspire, generations of artists, thinkers, and dreamers across the world. I am truly honoured to have undertaken this fellowship, to honour your poetic, powerful, perspicacious films, installations, and interventions. Fragments, persuaded to form insightful connections, that communicate the histories and futures of our contemporary experiences.
The fellowship enabled Brown to visit the 2024 Venice Biennale - a trip that catalysed his research at the Royal College of Art, with support from Lisson Gallery and Smoking Dogs Films.
Brown would like to give particular thanks to all those who supported him during the fellowship:
Thank you to Emily Moore, Ossian Ward, and Ekow Eshun, for selecting me for this fellowship, and for your support throughout what has been such a fantastic opportunity.
Thank you to Emily Alice Mitchell, it was a pleasure to undertake this fellowship alongside you, given so many cross-overs between our respective contemporary art practices.
Thank you to Shannon Bono, for your feedback and advice during this influential process.
Thank you to Chisom Ibe, for your advice and support with the sound collage for this film - your collaboration really helped push me out of my comfort zone and refine the scope and tone of the work.
Thank you to Xinli Li, for your insights and help with 2D character animation in this film - I sincerely appreciate your time and support, and your collaboration helped bring the character, and the environments surrounding them, to life.
Thank you to David Quartey, for your insights into research through sound production and composition.
Thank you to Gareth Proskourine-Barnett for your advice and support with this project - communicating research, embodying objects, and speculating upon transfigured landscapes, architectural interventions, and systems.
Thank you to the moving image, wood, and metal technicans at the Royal College of Art, for helping me assemble this sculpture - your support was invaluable.
Thank you to the people who so generously allowed me to interview them, whose voices you can hear throughout the film:
Nell Hardy (British Council Fellow and cultural mediator at the 2024 Venice Art Biennale's British Pavilion 'Listening All Night To The Rain', object-storyteller at the Museum of the Homeless, trauma-informed coach, actor, multi-arts facilitator, director, and founder of ResponseAbility Theatre);
Azu Nwagbogu (Curator of the 2024 Venice Art Biennale's Benin Pavilion Everything Precious is Fragile);
Chiara Celoria (Gallery manager at Victoria Miro Venice);
Shalom Thoma (Cultural mediator for the 2024 Venice Art Biennale's Dutch Pavilion The International Celebration of Blasphemy and the Sacred, and Italian sign language student);
Maša Šehović (Cultural mediator for the 2024 Venice Art Biennale's Nigeria Pavilion Nigeria Imaginary).
Thank you to Outset UK, for their generosity and kindness in allowing me to tag along with them on their tour of Venice's art exhibitions during the Biennale; your generosity enriched what was already a fabulous experience.
Thank you to the British Council Venice Fellows, who were so welcoming and accommodating at the British Pavilion, including Nell Hardy, Toni Adebajo, Simran Junaid, and Nazima Kalita.
And of course, a special thank you to Sir John Akomfrah, for actively building a legacy that inspires, and will continue to inspire, generations of artists, thinkers, and dreamers across the world. I am truly honoured to have undertaken this fellowship, to honour your poetic, powerful, perspicacious films, installations, and interventions. Fragments, persuaded to form insightful connections, that communicate the histories and futures of our contemporary experiences.
Projection onto Rip-stop Nylon, Supported by Mild Steel (1700 mm x 1500mm)
Mild Steel on Eco-Board (1500mm x 1000mm)