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In the Year of the Quiet Sun + Nucleus of the Great Union

Saturday 15th August 2026

Presented as part of the Barbican’s Project a Black Planet film season, In the Year of the Quiet Sun + Nucleus of the Great Union brings together two thought-provoking films by the internationally acclaimed artists and filmmakers The Otolith Group. Blending archive, essay film and speculative storytelling, the programme reflects on the enduring influence of Pan-Africanism, exploring the lives and ideas of Ghana’s first President Kwame Nkrumah and African American writer Richard Wright. Through an imaginative use of image, sound and narration, the films invite audiences to reconsider the unfinished histories of decolonisation and the global struggle for Black liberation.

 

The first film, In the Year of the Quiet Sun (2013), examines the political and intellectual legacy of Kwame Nkrumah, whose vision of a united and independent Africa inspired liberation movements across the continent and throughout the African diaspora. Rather than presenting a conventional biography, the film layers archival material with poetic reflection, considering both the optimism of the independence era and the challenges that followed. The result is a meditation on political imagination, asking how revolutionary ideas continue to shape the present long after the moment of independence has passed.

The programme continues with Nucleus of the Great Union (2018), which centres on the travels and writings of Richard Wright, one of the twentieth century’s most influential authors and political thinkers. Wright’s encounters with newly independent Ghana and his reflections on Pan-African politics become the starting point for a wider exploration of Black internationalism, intellectual exchange and cultural solidarity. The Otolith Group combine historical documents, fragmented narratives and evocative imagery to reveal how writers, artists and political leaders imagined new possibilities for freedom and global cooperation during a transformative period in history.

Renowned for their innovative approach to moving image, The Otolith Group have consistently explored the intersections of history, memory, science, politics and visual culture. Their films challenge traditional documentary conventions, encouraging audiences to engage actively with the archive rather than simply observe it. By reconstructing historical moments through fragments of image, text and sound, they create space for alternative perspectives and encourage fresh conversations about the continuing relevance of Pan-African thought in the twenty-first century.

This screening forms part of the Barbican’s wider Project a Black Planet season, which features more than fifty events inspired by the exhibition Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica. Together, the season explores the global influence of Pan-African ideas across art, cinema, music and public debate. In the Year of the Quiet Sun + Nucleus of the Great Union offers a fascinating opportunity to experience two important contemporary works that reconnect audiences with the visions, ambitions and continuing legacy of some of the most influential figures in modern Black history.

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