Barbican Guide
January 2021
Hello
As we went to print with this Guide, we had to close our building for the third time this year. It’s been very difficult having to keep closing the Centre, but we’re really grateful for the love and support we’ve had from many people, so thank you. Hopefully we’ll be able to bring you everything featured in this edition, but things might change, so make sure you check our website for the latest information.
Discover the cutting-edge of art and technology as Lumen Prize founder Carla Rapoport shares her knowledge of this exciting intersection of two fields. Also, find our Theatre team’s picks for exciting new artists to look out for.
Artist Toyin Ojih Odutola explains the inspiration behind her exhibition in The Curve in a new podcast, where she talks to Erin J Gilbert, curator of modern and contemporary African and African American art.
Last year was a good year for female filmmakers, as we find out, while forgotten French director Jacqueline Audry is highlighted in our season dedicated to her work.
As we embark on a new year, we have lots to inspire you into 2021. Let’s hope we can get it all off to a great start with you.
Swept away by the New Wave
The films of pioneering and provocative French director Jacqueline Audry deserve to be much better known, says Barbican Cinema Curator Alex Davidson.
Jacqueline Audry was one of the most daring French filmmakers in the 1940s and 1950s, yet despite being the most prolific female director working in France at the time, today she is sadly overlooked.
She created a series of female-focused dramas that commented on women’s role in society, and put female, and often queer, sexuality at the centre of the story.
Davidson says the reason she’s been largely forgotten is in part due to the dominance of the French New Wave movement in the mid-late 1950s.
Olivia, Part of Hidden Figures: Jacqueline Audry
Olivia, Part of Hidden Figures: Jacqueline Audry
‘The swagger of the New Wave filmmakers dismissed swathes of French cinema from the previous couple of decades, with François Truffaut deriding 'la tradition de qualité', referring to what he saw as stuffy and anonymous features, often period dramas and literary adaptations,’ he says. ‘Yet within her many films, often co-written by her feminist sister Colette Audry, based on French novels mainly written by women, Audry managed to subvert the period drama genre to make subtle attacks on patriarchal attitudes. She emphasised the resilience of her female characters, who were invariably her protagonists.’
Davidson says highlights of Audry’s work includes Olivia (1951), which is set in a 19th century girls’ finishing school and embraces queer female sexuality. We are screening a new restoration of the film, which features strong perfomances from Edwige Feuillère (who was nominated for a Bafta) and Simone Simon.
Audry’s wicked take on Jean-Paul Sartre’s Huis Clos (1954) is a marvellous, bitter interpretation of the existentialist play, with a tremendous performance from Arletty as a larger-than-life lesbian spending eternity with two people with dark secrets (‘Hell is other people’).
Women leading the way
Despite the challenging circumstances, 2020 saw a significant increase in female-led film releases, says Cinema Curator Sonia Zadurian.
Despite the challenging circumstances, 2020 saw a significant increase in female-led film releases, says Cinema Curator Sonia Zadurian.
Due to Covid-19, in March 2020 many cinemas around the world closed and film distributors began to cancel their planned releases.
However, even during lockdown, there were some fantastic new release titles by women filmmakers going straight to video on demand, such as Chinonye Chukwu’s Clemency. When most cinemas began to reopen, and distributors started to release films to cinemas again, it soon became apparent that films by women were leading the way; garnering awards attention and critical praise, performing well at the box office and dominating film conversations in the media.
According to figures from the Film Distributors’ Association, Birds Eye View and Comscore, as of November 2020 25% of all UK cinema releases were by women; with ‘by women’ defined as having the directing team/writing credits comprised of at least half women, and/ or based on a book by a woman. In contrast, this was just under 21% in 2019 and only 17% in 2018. October 2020 saw a historic high of 38%.
We want to highlight and celebrate the films by women which led the way in 2020, that we sadly couldn’t show on release, so we have a season of films lined up. It’s important for us to acknowledge the huge contribution made by female filmmakers and the brilliant work which helped to keep us all going.
We’ll be screening a wide range of films, from women on the edge in horror titles Saint Maud and Relic, to the poignant coming-of-age Babyteeth. There’s also comedy-drama The 40-Year-Old Version, which sees director Radha Blank star as a down-on-her-luck New York playwright who decides to reinvent herself as a rapper and begins to find her way back to her true self through this new form of expression. We have Boys State, a riveting documentary following a handful of teenage boys playing politics at an annual summer camp. With Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winner Clemency, we delve into the mind of a female prison warden (Alfre Woodard) working on death row, while documentary On the Record, looks at sexual abuse scandals in the music industry through the eyes of a former industry executive who has chosen to go public.
Cultural connections
Former editor-in-chief of Wallpaper* Trustee of the Barbican Centre Trust, and resident, Tony Chambers, kept in touch with the Centre through lockdown via our online experiences. He says the importance of culture became even more pronounced during those times of isolation.
Chambers’ first encounter with the Barbican was when he moved to London as a student at Central St Martins in 1984. ‘Studying art and being interested in the arts, it was a place of great inspiration for me,’ he recalls. He fell in love with the place, so much so that ten years later he moved into a flat here, and still lives on the estate today.
His work at magazines such as art director at GQ and as editor-in-chief of Wallpaper* provided opportunities to deepen his relationship with the Barbican. He says he’d use it for shoots, and ‘always tried to promote it’, (within the bounds of journalistic impartiality, he quickly adds). But when he left to set up his own agency in 2018, it meant the restraints of neutrality were loosened, and he could become more involved. He’s now on the board at the Barbican Centre Trust, and one of our Patrons.
‘When the Centre reopened immediately after the first lockdown, I popped down to visit,’ he says. ‘The staff were being very careful, and there was such a positive and uplifting feeling among everyone. Being able to go into the public areas and the Conservatory – which is a real oasis in the City – was wonderful.
‘You could see the delight on people’s faces as they walked around.’
During the lockdown, Chambers has watched online concerts among other things, and enjoyed the virtual tour of Toyin Ojih Odutola’s A Countervailing Theory, which is in The Curve.
‘This content is bespoke, and really high quality – it’s been made for the platform,’ he says. ‘That’s what’s so good about it. There’s nothing like coming to see the real thing, but as a viewer this gives you a taster of what to expect if you can come to the Barbican; and if you can’t, it offers a good feel for what’s happening.
‘The importance of culture and creativity has been demonstrated through the pandemic, as something not just for pleasure but for wellbeing. The Barbican has so much on offer that whatever you’re into, you can find something here – whether that’s in the free-to access public spaces, the library, or the events. And it needs support now more than ever.’
If you’re able, we’d love it if you could give a donation, or consider becoming a Patron.
A landscape of inspiration
In this extract from our podcast, Nothing Concrete, Nigerian-American artist Toyin Ojih Odutola and her friend Erin J Gilbert, curator of modern and contemporary African and African American art, discuss the origins of Ojih Odutola’s exhibition in The Curve.
Erin: ‘In this particular story, A Countervailing Theory, I think when I first saw it, I said ‘these are both ancient and futuristic‘. I remember thinking that they existed in multiple time spectrums and that this way in which you had already honed the power of the Ife head and the power of the Ife head and the power of the Benin bronzes [two key influences for Ojih Odutola] and then had transported us as an audience both back to that past with which we were unfamiliar, but to the possibilities of the future with which we’re currently unfamiliar. In this context, you play the role of an archaeologist, who for the past 10 years has directed government sanctioned research and is now reporting on a, quote, 'newly discovered' set of pictographic markings on black shale rocks in a depository mining site. And this is set in the plateau region of Nigeria, specifically Jos Plateau, which is the home of the Nok culture, which means you’re also engaging with another history, another way in which a body of work and a set of people have come to be known in the West, through those markings. Do you want to talk a little bit about how and why you came to Jos Plateau as the site?’
Toyin: ‘It’s a winding road. Right after [listening to] the ‘History Of The World in a Hundred Objects’ [podcast episode], there was this moment of, well, I want to create a history for myself. I want to feel free. So many artists do this all the time, but I don’t know why I felt like I needed permission. I was looking at a lot of ways where I could be granted permission. I kept thinking, ‘what’s the oldest rock known?’ I was already thinking geologically. I was thinking, ‘what’s the oldest rock?’ Basalt rock. I thought about the Olmec in Mexico. Basalt rock is one of the oldest and it’s the one that lasts the longest [of] volcanic rock. Then I thought, well, ‘is there basalt rock in Nigeria?’ There is, but not in the [Niger] Delta. It’s in central Nigeria. I [thought]: ‘Central Nigeria? I don’t know anybody there.’ You know, I was thinking [about] Yorubaland and I was thinking, ‘keep it in the Delta.’ [The Niger] Delta can’t hold basalt; but Jos Plateau has lots of different rock—not just basalt—millions-of-year-old rock formations. And I just started looking it up. I hadn’t seen any pictures, I was just reading about it and I thought I've got to see this place. It sounds crazy. They’re saying all these columnar shapes that are formed from volcanic rock had [risen] from the ground to create these rock formations. And then, of course, human interaction – possibly from the Nok, possibly from other places – had moved them around and created a Stonehenge-like [site] throughout. You find it in Riyom. You find it in Jos Plateau, specifically, and all these other places surrounding it. So, no, I just looked it up. I [saw] the pictures of these rocks. My God, it was like the Lord delivered. It was crazy. I was like, ‘oh, I know exactly what I’m drawing,’ because it had so much textural possibility and had so much visual language I could mine. And it wasn’t just the rocks, it was the landscape. It was gorgeous. I mean, it was like looking [upon] Eden.’
At the cutting edge of where tech and art meet
Lumen Art Projects founder Carla Rapoport says there’s been a massive shift in the intersection of art and technology since she launched the Lumen Prize a decade ago.
We’ve been hosting works by Lumen Prize shortlisted artists for the past three years. Before the Centre closed, you could see Playing Democracy by Ling Tan – a giant game of Pong that you can play, and discover new ideas about how society works – and INSULAE [Of the Island] by Nye Thompson, a video installation using drone footage which prompts us to ask questions about national identity and borders.
Rapoport, a former financial journalist working for the Economist Group started Lumen Art Projects after noticing the impact that technology was having on the publishing and music industries. ‘It occurred to me that it didn’t seem to be having the same effect on the art world,’ she says.
After attending a 2012 exhibition by David Hockney for which he’d created most of the work using an iPad, she realised that technology was widespread among artists. But the art world didn’t appear to openly acknowledge that at the time.
‘The biggest shift in the last ten years is that’s no longer true,’ she says. ‘Viewers are much more interested and people are more comfortable with technology because it’s part of our daily life.’
Seeking out the best art made with technology, the Lumen Prize is a global competition, offering artists a network, plus financial support for the winners. The organisation has staged more than 45 exhibitions in venues across Asia, Europe and the USA, including us here at the Barbican
‘There’s a huge way people engage with technology and art today,’ says Rapoport. ‘Even the most suspicious artists are using technology because they want broader audiences. During Covid times, you can engage with people all over the world and find people your work connects with, such as by using augmented reality.’
She says the rapid pace of change is illustrated by the Prize introducing a category for Artificial Intelligence five years ago, but it’s now likely to be dropped because its use in art is so commonplace. ‘I never could have predicted how it’s become like just another paintbrush – it’s very much in the toolkit of artists.’
And what of the future? What’s at the vanguard of tech and art? Rapoport says ‘post-human’ is the next big trend on the horizon. ‘We’re starting to see artists create using the human biome – their inner biology. I think that will go from being a small niche to a much larger category in the coming years.’
Ones to watch in 2021
Always on a mission to find and support exciting new talent, our Theatre team has selected six must-see artists for our Open Lab programme.
The scheme gives artists the chance to research and develop a new project. As well as a cash grant, we offer training sessions with our staff and industry experts on topics including marketing, fundraising, and creative learning; sessions with a mentor; access to one of our Theatre producers for advice and support; and rehearsal spaces at our Centre.
This year we’re supporting six new works which will be experienced by audiences in a socially-distanced manner . We’re delighted to be working with the artists we’ve chosen, and wanted to introduce you to these exciting talents from across the country who have been selected by our Theatre team. Let’s meet them.
Yolanda Mercy
Writer and performer Mercy’s award-winning shows include Quarter Life Crisis and On The Edge of Me. ‘I create work that is inspired by the world that inhabits me, and the questions I have,’ she tells us. ‘It usually incorporates elements of text and visual projections.’ Interested in live performance and different ways of telling stories, she says she’s a big fan of audio books. This was the inspiration behind her Open Lab project: ‘I was wondering how do I combine theatre and audio formats?’ Inspired by the realisation that the whole block of flats in the holiday rental she was staying in was sharing a landline connection, she’ll be exploring the concept of attending a live theatre performance on the phone.
Image: Polly Bycroft-Brown Photography
Peyvand Sadeghian
With a background in acting and puppeteering, Sadeghian makes socially-engaged theatre that frequently breaks the fourth wall to engage with the audience. ‘I always acknowledge them,’ she says. ‘It’s not just to get them doing stuff for the sake of it, but to acknowledge that they’ve come to see this production because they’re interested in the topic, and that means we’re all interested in it, so I want them to place themselves within it and consider their proximity to what’s being discussed.’
Sadeghian will be developing Dual دوگانه, her play that explores ideas of identity and belonging to two cultures. She aims to develop it into a modular format, so it can work in different mediums and platforms. ‘What happens if you just do a design-based version that can exist as an installation? What if you make it just spoken word? I want to explore the different ways it can be pulled apart and also what happens when they come together,’ she says.
Image: © Ray Roberts
Nicole Vivien Watson
Technology will be central to Newcastle-Upon- Tyne based choreographer Vivien Watson’s new production. As well as the Western-focussed Cunningham and Graham Techniques, her practice incorporates Japanese Butoh dance theatre – and British Sign Language (BSL), which she learned in 2007. ‘After my first class, I wondered why my cheeks were hurting – and realised it’s because I’d been smiling the whole way through,’ she recalls. It was at that course where she met her Surface Area Dance codirector, native BSL user Paul Miller.
For Open Lab, she’ll be developing work using tactile audio system, SUBPAC, which allows people to feel music by wearing a device strapped to their back. ‘I’ll be working with a collective of Deaf and hearing artists to unpack the capabilities of SUBPAC; understanding how the system can support access to sound and choreographic composition with Deaf and hearing artists.’ She says it will also shine a light on the Deaf community’s relationship to music and sound.
Image: Nicole Vivien Watson and Yoshito Ohno at the Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio, Japan. Photography by Paul Miller.
Julene Robinson
Born and raised in Jamaica, Robinson has a degree in Chemistry, and came to the UK to do a Masters in Theatre. ‘I found studying chemistry at university quite isolating compared to the camaraderie of high school. And then someone put me in a musical, and I discovered I enjoyed theatre. It really helped me get through my undergraduate years.
She says her academic background means much of her work is research based or explores some kind of scientific concept. ‘The piece I’m working on at Open Lab, The Night Woman, is about darkness – not just as a social construct but as a scientific idea. I want to look at questions such as what darkness is; the historical and cultural concepts and the relationship we have to darkness itself. That intersects with issues of race and history.’
The work will be explored through Jamaican music, dance, sound and technology. ‘I’m also trying to figure out how to make it a compelling digital experience. I’m toying with the idea of using Augmented Reality, and looking at ways of integrating it into the live experience.’
Image: Henry Robertson
Malik Nashad Sharpe
Nashad Sharpe, who works under the alias Marikiscrycrycry, creates dance that’s experimental, and ‘tries to expand what choreography can be and can do’.
‘I’m interested in ways of moving, or dance, that aren’t in the “traditional canon” of making dance,’ they say. ‘I learn more in my community than when I was at the conservatoire.’
Their project during Open Lab is an exploration of the terms “hope and progress”. ‘I’m interested in giving those terms a new lease of life – I feel they are very much hollowed-out.’
Nashad Sharpe will be working with other artists - and they even hint there could be a motorbike and live band involved in the final production, which is expected to premiere in May.
pink suits
The queer feminist punk duo from Margate make loud, aggressive political music as well as dance, physical theatre, film and visual art. Their work often explores sexuality, fantasy, and is a resistance of the gender binary as well as addressing politics, mental health, activism and rebellion. ‘We use our art to question how our voices and bodies can be used as a form of protest,’ they say.
For Open Lab the duo will be working on a new multi-disciplinary project called Closet Bodies, which brings together live dance theatre performance and a visual arts exhibition of film, photography and sculpture exploring closeted identities. ‘These are the parts of ourselves that we repress growing up in a heteronormative society, both physically and emotionally. We want to examine how we can re-find the parts of ourselves we have stifled as we adapt for acceptance. The project is an exploration of how coming out of the closet can lead to changes in our physicality and psychology.’
They’re working with designers in music and visual arts to create an initial dance performance and a series of artworks to accompany it, plus exploring live improvisation and cinematic theatrical imagery. ‘The performance and exhibition aims to be loud, punk, wild and liberating.’
Open Lab is made possible thanks to support from people such as you, through donations, and Arts Council England. Find out more about how you can support this important work.
Yolanda Mercy
Yolanda Mercy
Peyvand Sadeghian
Peyvand Sadeghian
Nicole Vivien Watson
Nicole Vivien Watson
Julene Robinson
Julene Robinson
Malik Nashad Sharpe
Malik Nashad Sharpe
pink suits
pink suits
New perspectives
Fyodor, (@fyodorkzr) finds a real energy in the Barbican, and shared this photo on Instagram. ‘Not all buildings can arouse the desire of running but also have enough space for you to accelerate and sprint until you’re exhausted,’ they say. ‘But in a leviathan like the Barbican, concrete provides firm support while high lines encourage movement and exploration, which create an open, vigorous and bold space for all visitors and residents.’
Support the Barbican
We rely on ticket sales and your enduring support and generosity to be able to present and share our programme with you and thousands of others. We’re all finding ourselves in completely new territory, which presents a real financial challenge for us and for those we work with. So, if you’re able, please consider donating to us so we can keep investing in the artists and organisations that help make this place what it is. Please also consider donating to our artistic residents and associates to support them through these difficult times.
Behind the scenes at our live streams
TV directors Rhodri Huw and Matt Woodward tell us how they recreate the thrill of a live concert experience for viewers at home.
Live from the Barbican has brought performances from the likes of Nubya Garcia, Byrn Terfel and the Kanneh-Mason Family to people’s homes across the country.
Tasked with sharing the excitement of a live concert online are directors Rhodri Huw and Matt Woodward. Both are veterans of directing TV broadcasts of music events, and it’s their job to capture the magic of that experience, using a mix of remote cameras and a camera operator in the Hall.
‘We’re trying to make the viewer feel as if they’re there in the Hall, but the bonus is that they can get close-ups and angles you wouldn’t normally see in the audience,’ says Woodward.
‘A lot of what we capture is the emotion and the atmosphere. We can show the expression on people’s faces as they perform, and the joy as they interact with the other musicians.’
Huw and Woodward work closely with our stage and lighting staff, as well as the artists, to create an experience as a team.
‘We want to reflect what the artist wants to see,’ says Huw. ‘Emmy the Great wanted lots of light and moon-like qualities – a theatrical look, whereas Richard Dawson wanted something natural. Our job is to share with viewers the artist’s vision of how the show should look.’
There’s a lot of preparation that goes into the filming, Woodward reveals. ‘Classical concerts require considerably more planning because you have to be very precise. The viewer needs to see certain key instruments at the right time – you don’t want to have some short trumpet stabs, but get to them just as they’re finished.
‘The shots for Contemporary Music are more likely to be decided on the day, because there’s much more scope for improvisation and the music is more spontaneous. If you script too tightly, you’ll lose that feeling of spontaneity.’
Both can read music (Huw studied tuba at the Royal Academy of Music; Woodward learned at school), and spend days going through manuscript to identify the shots they need. For Contemporary Music, they listen to and study the artist’s music in depth.
There are advantages of watching a concert online or on TV that you don’t get as an audience member sat in the Hall. Huw explains: ‘You get to see a level of detail you don’t normally get: if you’re interested in what the percussionist is playing you can see that; or the facial expressions of a performer – some are extremely emotionally expressive as they play, and that’s magical to watch.’
Woodward says the high production values in our broadcasts set them apart from some other online streams. ‘I come away from each one feeling really proud of the work. Audience feedback has been great too.’
Some of the responses we’ve had include: ‘It’s clear that so much effort is put into providing a good quality production for the streaming audience as well as the in-person audience.’
And one person said: ‘Thank you for providing food for the soul. When there’s so much negativity around and the odds are so truly and unfairly stacked against the arts, the Barbican has dug deep, thought outside the box and given us a “night out” that we have been so looking forward to and so desperately needed. Thank you.’
It might be impossible to exactly replicate the experience of a live concert online, but this clearly comes close.
A brutiful start to 2021
Get the year off right with this selection of Brutalism-inspired items available in our Shop.
Brutalist Calendar
This monthly wall calendar is a celebration of some of the most awe-inspiring and influential examples of Brutalist architecture around the world, this year featuring our stunning building. Printed by one of Europe’s most environmentally progressive family-owned printers, this calendar will provide connoisseurs of concrete with twelve months of Brutalist bliss.
Brutalist London Map
This two-sided folding map features over 50 leading examples of Brutalist architecture in London, from the Alexandra Road Estate to World’s End Housing. Celebrated Brutalist buildings such as the Trellick Tower, the Barbican and the National Theatre are included along with lesser known, yet equally influential buildings. The reverse side of the map features an introduction to Brutalism by the Twentieth Century Society’s Henrietta Billings, photos by Simon Phipps and details about each building.
Brutal Tote Bag
Share your love of Brutalism by wearing it on your shoulder. The design of these exclusive tote bags is inspired by the Barbican’s architecture, and was created in-house by the Barbican studio
Find these items in our online shop.
Members get 20% discount on items in our Shop, among many other benefits.
My Barbican: Emma Kane
The Chair of the Barbican Trust shares her favourite spaces around the place she calls ‘my spiritual home’. ‘It is an oasis of tranquillity, it is challenging and it is surprising. It represents civilisation at its best to me.’
The concrete
I adore the rough concrete finish around the Barbican - not the far more polished surfaces the architects, Chamberlin, Powell and Bon originally intended. Instead, pitted, rough concrete adorns the walls around the centre, erasing the joints between the sections and creating a unity that echoes the unity that the Barbican brings delivering arts without boundaries. As someone who sculpts, often using power tools, I truly appreciate the tremendous effort that went into making these surfaces the way they are – pick-hammered externally and bush hammered internally for a gentler effect. The concrete is quintessentially Barbican.
Acknowledgement board in the entrance
As Chair of the Barbican Centre Trust, nothing gives me more pleasure than saying thank you to the incredible people and organisations who make it all possible – our corporate members, patrons and the trusts and foundations who support us. They are the lifeblood of the Centre and I hope the acknowledgement board will become a larger and larger feature on the walls of the Barbican Centre. A heartfelt thankyou to all those listed.
Theatre Auditorium
Again, full of surprises, the auditorium brings a sense of harmony and a world of wonder. The spectacular mirrored safety curtain is mesmerising, and brings together the audience in its reflection on the multifaceted screen, while the doors close in unison as the lights dim, in the aisle-free auditorium. It is magical, and theatre itself.
With thanks
The City of London Corporation, founder and principal funder
Centre Partner
Christie Digital
Major Supporters
Arts Council England; Esmeé Fairbairn Foundation; Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement; The National Lottery Heritage Fund; Terra Foundation for American Art; UBS; Wellcome
Corporate Supporters
Aberdeen Standard Investments; Allford Hall Monaghan Morris; Audible; Bank of America; Bloomberg; Calvin Klein; CMS; DLA Piper; Howden M&A Limited; Leigh Day; Linklaters LLP; National Australia Bank; Natrium Capital Limited; Newgate Communications; Pinsent Masons; Slaughter and May; Sotheby's; Taittinger Champagne; tp bennett; UBS
Trusts & Foundations
The 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust; The John S Cohen Foundation; SHM Foundation; Jonathan Ruffer Curatorial Research Grant from the Art Fund; Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
We also want to thank Barbican Patrons, donors to Name a Seat, Members, and everyone who has supported the Barbican by making a donation.
To find out more, visit barbican.org.uk/supportus or email [email protected]
The Barbican Centre Trust, registered charity no. 294282
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