Julianknxx

Julianknxx was in residence at LUMA Arles from mid april to june 2025.

Julianknxx is a poet, artist, and filmmaker. The polyphonic nature of Julianknxx’s work is indicative of his expansive practice, which is rooted in poetry but extends into performance, film, music and sculpture. Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Julianknxx draws on his personal experiences to broaden perspectives on the history and culture of Africa and its diasporas. Inspired by oral history traditions and working with a distinctive aesthetic approach, his films invite us to consider how we construct both local and global narratives, while reflecting on how it feels to exist in liminal spaces.

His work has been shown at galleries and museums worldwide, with his acclaimed first institutional solo show Chorus In Rememory of Flight at the Barbican, London (2023), called “transcendent and poignant” by the Evening Standard.

Recent group shows include A World in Common at Tate Modern, London (2023); Rites of Passage at Gagosian, London (2023); and To Be Held at Carl Freedman Gallery, Margate (2023). Previous participations include Whitechapel Gallery Open, London (2022); Nocturnal Creatures at Whitechapel Gallery (2021); Lux at 180 The Strand, London (2021); The View from There at Sadie Coles HQ, London (2021); and more.

Performances include Chorus in Flight at St James’s Church (2023), BURO Stedelijk (2024), and The Philadelphia Museum of Art (2024); Art Basel Conversations: Sonic Performance, Basel (2023); and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon (2023).