Isaac Julien: ‘The Tate’s Nigerian Modernism exhibition was a knockout’

Isaac Julien was born in east London in 1960 to parents who had migrated from St Lucia. He studied painting and film at Saint Martin’s and broke through with his 1989 short film Looking for Langston, exploring the Harlem Renaissance. He’s made numerous films and installations since then, often reflecting on the black gay experience while breaking down barriers between artistic disciplines. A major retrospective of Julien’s work was held at the Tate Britain in 2023. His new five-screen film installation All That Changes You. Metamorphosis runs at Victoria Miro in London, from 13 February to 21 March. 

Davóne Tines in Julius Eastman: A Power Greater Than at the Barbican

This concert by Julius Eastman had a knockout performance by Davóne Tines, who has an extraordinary bass-baritone voice and a really strong stage presence. Eastman was a New York composer who was recognised in the avant garde but died penniless in 1990. He’s been an underappreciated figure among American modernist composers ever since, but he was given full attention here. It was really electric – one of the standout performances I’ve seen recently.

Nigerian Modernism at Tate Modern

This is a revelatory show. I knew little about Nigerian modernism, which is embarrassing, but the exhibition is so well researched and its breadth is extraordinary. The painter and sculptor Ben Enwonwu deserved his own solo show – his sculptures of angelic figures were riveting. And Uzo Egonu’s paintings that close the exhibition are masterpieces. These artists were so closely in dialogue with the modernism of the so-called west, but gave their own very specific articulation of it. I was really knocked out by this.

One Battle After Another (2025, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)

I’m a Bafta member and an Academy member, so I saw this film during our voting period. At first I thought it was going to be very annoying: it has this highly sexualised representation of a black woman, and I thought it was going to give a typical white view of Panther-style activists. But then it unwinds into a critique of white nationalism and its manifestation in the Trumpian discourses and practices of the US today. The undulating car chase in its finale was really cinematically interesting too.

V&A East Storehouse

The V&A’s archive could be a bit of a Pandora’s box. What do you do with all these objects that aren’t on view at the museum? The architect Liz Diller’s solution to that is extraordinary. She has created a space for the public to move around within the V&A storehouse in east London. It feels like going behind the scenes. You’re in close proximity with the artworks, you see the backs of them. It’s very clever. It doesn’t take away from the fact that these big museums have things in them that they shouldn’t have, but the intimacy with the objects here is remarkable.

Luca, Clerkenwell

I’m a frequent visitor to Luca, which is simply one of the best restaurants in London. They serve delicious Italian food. I’m very orthodox, so I always have the parmesan fries to start, which are extraordinary. On my last visit I had roast scallops with Jerusalem artichokes and ’nduja on top – it was really good! The pasta is always delicious; every dish is. It’s an incredibly friendly place and the space is very beautiful. I think of it as the River Cafe of east London.

Scenes from a Repatriation at the Royal Court

This was a really interesting play by Joel Tan around the theme of repatriation of objects from European museums. It had sly critique on that from an Asian perspective, looking at what happens when you repatriate objects in terms of the different market forces at work and how it is played out for different political ends. The whole thing was done in a witty and visually alluring manner, and the staging was really inventive within a relatively small theatre space.

Photographs by Tate Modern, Capital Pictures, Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images, Alex Brenner