Image: John Akomfrah, The Hour Of The Dog (still), 2025. Six-channel color video, sound, 50:37 min. Baltimore Museum of Art: Commissioned by the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Menil Collection, Houston. © John Akomfrah, Courtesy Smoking Dogs Films and Lisson Gallery
The Menil Collection in Houston is presenting ‘John Akomfrah: The Hour Of The Dog,’ an immersive six-channel video installation examining youth-led Civil Rights–era activism in the American South. Co-commissioned by the Menil Collection and the Baltimore Museum of Art, the exhibition is on view in the Menil’s Main Building from April 24 through October 11, 2026.
Created by British artist and filmmaker Sir John Akomfrah, ‘The Hour Of The Dog’ focuses on the period from 1954 to 1963, when activists pursued racial equity through nonviolent marches, protests, boycotts, and voter-registration efforts. The installation considers both the historical events and the ways their participants have been remembered, mourned, and represented.
The work is a six-channel color video with sound and has a runtime of 50 minutes and 37 seconds. At the Menil, screenings begin every hour on the hour, with the final screening of each day starting at 6 p.m. The installation was commissioned by the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Menil Collection, Houston.
Akomfrah is known for films and multimedia works that investigate memory, post-colonialism, time, and the experiences of migrant diasporas. He was a founding member of the Black Audio Film Collective, established in London in 1982 with artists David Lawson and Lina Gopaul. Lawson and Gopaul remain collaborators with Akomfrah, alongside Ashitey Akomfrah, through Smoking Dogs Films.
The artist’s work has been shown at institutions including the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, the Museum of Modern Art and the New Museum in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and Tate in London. He also represented Britain at the 60th Venice Biennale. Akomfrah received the Artes Mundi Prize in 2017 and was awarded a knighthood for services to the arts in the 2023 New Year Honours.
‘The Hour Of The Dog’ is co-curated by Michelle White, senior curator at the Menil Collection, and Cecilia Wichmann, BMA curator and department head of contemporary art, with Oscar Flores-Montero, BMA curatorial assistant of contemporary art. The Menil will also host a member noontime talk on October 9 with White. The museum is located at 1533 Sul Ross Street and offers free admission Wednesday through Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
