Exhibition Opening: Akil Ahamat, Extinguishing Hope

Extinguishing Hope
Akil Ahamat

13 February - 19 May 2025
UTS Gallery
Exhibition opening: Thursday 13 February, 6 - 8pm
Preview, in conversation with Akil from 5pm

UTS Gallery is pleased to announce the forthcoming exhibition Extinguishing Hope, by Akil Ahamat.

How do we find our way in the dark? This is the question at the centre of Akil Ahamat’s multichannel film installation Extinguishing Hope, the latest chapter in a series of works by the artist that use the visual and textual motif of ‘darkness’ to evoke our contemporary dark age. This is a world shaped by information saturation, rising inequality, alienation, and the global threat of fascism.  

Extinguishing Hope takes the form of a non-narrative atmosphere; an approach Ahamat has described as ‘slow cinema for short attention spans.’ The work presents a single scene, rehashed ad nauseum by Ahamat and a snail —a recurring character in his works that embodies broader questions about the stories we tell ourselves and each other. Together, they postulate on the scene unfolding behind them and the value of knowledge in the face of ever-unfolding catastrophe. Built in a games engine, the recursive landscape inhabited by the pair becomes a place to consider how our desires, imaginations, and experiences are shaped in this media-saturated present. 

'Extinguishing Hope' is a West Space Commission, supported by Creative Australia and presented in partnership with UTS. The exhibition is accompanied by a publication designed by Alex Tanazefti.

Image: Akil Ahamat, Extinguishing Hope, 2024, (moving image still). Courtesy the artist. © Akil Ahamat 2024.