The Barbican’s extensive arts programme ensures the space is constantly evolving – meaning delegates and visitors to the iconic venue have the opportunity to experience something new every time they attend a conference, dinner or event.
“Unlike so many other venues that undergo refurbishment every few years, the Barbican is constantly changing,” comments The Barbican’s Head of Business Events, Jackie Boughton. “Our world-class arts programme includes theatre, dance, music, film and visual arts and our public spaces also feature a dynamic mix of free art installations and performances for everyone to enjoy. Ultimately the Barbican is a living space– making it one of the most creative and unusual venues not just in the City of London but across the whole of Europe. Delegates could attend an event today and see the venue in one light, then just a few months later return to something completely different. Alongside our excellent customer service and flexible spaces it is one of the key reasons many of our clients return time and again.”
Free installations in the Barbican’s Foyers over the coming months include:
• Sophie Clements: Shall I This Time Hold You? (Feb – May 2017) – Documenting the split second after a dramatic moment of change – a series of gun powder explosions are frozen in time using state-of-the-art bullet time photography, producing seemingly tangible impossible objects. These ‘objects’ will be displayed as a series of large scale video projections across a five metre screen, accompanied by a multi-channel score by Jo Wills and Sophie Clements, constructed from audio recorded during the shoot. This installation is both a celebration of the present moment and a wistful look at how people deal with change and the passing of time.
• Alex Mead and Jack Wates: Find Yourself (Tue 28 Mar – Sun 21 May) – the Barbican’s inaugural Concert Hall Wall commission will be a projected tapestry of live video feeds from spaces adjacent to the Hall. When spaces are vacant, the tapestry will sit as a collage of abstract textures and once inhabited will be transformed into a patchwork of people, colour and movement. Find Yourself encourages visitors to explore the Barbican’s spaces whilst contemplating the fabric of the building and their place in it.
• Shall I This Time Hold You? and Find Yourself both feature projecions by Christie and join the previously announced light installation 44 by Omer Arbel (until 18 April) and let’s take a walk by non zero one (until 2 April).
The Barbican, which is one of the world’s leading international Arts and Conference venues, offers a host of event services (via the Barbican Business Events team), which incorporate the arts into its conference offering. This ranges from theming and curated content through to speakers, training, community and CSR projects as well as architectural tours of the venue and use of the venue’s arts spaces*. In 2015/16, the Barbican programmed 3,910 arts, learning and business events attended by more than 1.1. million people.
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