Barbican Guide
October 2021

Is there a limit to free speech?

For her first major exhibition in London, internationally acclaimed, Mumbai-based artist Shilpa Gupta explores the power of free speech and its implications

The voices of 100 poets from across the centuries who have been imprisoned for their views will ring out across The Curve in the debut London exhibition by artist Shilpa Gupta.

Central to the exhibition is For, In Your Tongue, I Cannot Fit (2017–18) – an immersive multi-channel installation and soundscape comprising 100 microphones suspended above a forest of 100 metal spikes, each piercing a page inscribed with a fragmented verse by a poet incarcerated for their work, writings, or beliefs.

Spanning poetry from the 8th to the 21st centuries, the soundscape alternates between languages, including Arabic, Azeri, Chinese, English, Hindi and Spanish among others. Through the multiplicity of voices and languages, the idea of ‘not knowing becomes a part of knowing and is integral to the experience of this work,’ says assistant curator Chris Bayley, who talked us through the work as Gupta prepared for the exhibition. ‘Over the course of an hour, each microphone, fitted with speakers, recites verses of poetry, which are then echoed by a chorus of its 99 counterparts, as if standing together in solidarity.’

Gupta has a deep engagement with language. Her practice encompasses arrange of media and processes including text, sculpture, drawing, photography, and sound. Working with what she terms ‘the everyday’, she explores ideas of cultural identity, human perception, and how information is transmitted and internalised.

‘Her practice is extraordinary,’ says Bayley, ‘with a poetic sensibility, she challenges notions of power, nationalism and explores ideas of physical and ideological boundaries and how we as individuals, or collectively, feel a sense of isolation as well as a sense of belonging. All of which feel particularly resonant in our current socio-political climate.‘

The exhibition was initially planned to open in autumn 2020 but given the Covid-19 pandemic, it now opens this month. Over the course of a year, our sense of confinement and isolation has been heightened. Shilpa will respond to this moment; this idea of immobility and stillness.

Alongside For, In Your Tongue, I Cannot Fit, which forms an immersive climax in the final section of The Curve, Gupta presents a new body of work that builds on the research and themes present in the installation.

This includes the artist’s first pair of motion flap boards. The boards, often a familiar sight in train stations and airports that display departure and arrival information, are composed of letters and numbers on rotating flaps which are used to form words. Subverting their intended use, Gupta’s boards enter an uneasy poetic dialogue and interrogate dynamics of control, truth and relationships and expand on the artist’s use of sound, language and the power of speech.

Bayley says: ‘For, In Your Tongue, I Cannot Fit is not only visually powerful, but it draws attention to wider stories and global histories of those who persisted to resist. By giving a voice to those who had been silenced, the work probes the value and limits of free speech, asking one to consider whether confinement or incarceration is an effective means of censorship against dissident thinkers if their words live on.‘

Shilpa Gupta takes place from 7 Oct–6 Feb
With support from the Henry Moore Foundation

’If you’d asked me what music meant to me 18 months ago, I don’t think I would have been able to give you an answer,’ says viola master Antoine Tamestit. ‘Somehow, this Covid year made me realise what music is for me, or what it represents in my life. It’s not only a huge and essential part of my life and my personality, but also I feel it’s a part of my body. I kept practising during the lockdowns on my own, but I felt like a part of me was broken. I did streaming performances, but they didn’t fulfil me, because I missed the audience. Not just the applause, but the feeling that you cannot describe – the spirit that’s in the air when you’re all sharing this art form.’

For his Artist Portrait series with the London Symphony Orchestra, he’ll probably surprise some with the breadth of music written for the viola. The most eye-catching is Jörg Widmann’s Viola Concerto, written especially for Tamestit. It sees him walk around the orchestra during the performance and requires the pianist to have a whiskey glass.

‘It’s a very challenging piece to play because there are seven positions on stage that I have to get to throughout it,’ says Tamestit. ‘You have to move, walk and play at the same time. You have to sing and play; you have to play more pizzicato (plucked strings) than you have played in a lifetime. You have to act as well. It’s a piece that is very rich and goes far beyond just the normal concerto, and normal classical music. ‘I always enjoy this because I like to express 100% of the personality of the piece and of myself when I perform. This piece allows that.’

Antoine Tamestit: LSO Artist Portrait takes place on 6, 28 & 31 Oct

Tell us how the group came together?

Lya: ‘Colectiva was founded as a creative experiment by trombonist Viva Msimang to make space for female and non-binary identifying musicians to come together and collaborate in a new dynamic, free from traditional hierarchical structures and the “male gaze” (which is very common, especially in our musical universe). Since its formation, the collective has evolved and we’ve had the opportunity to work with top female musicians in London. The majority of our collective met at jam sessions or had worked together on other projects previously.’

Your sound brings together many different influences and styles. How do you navigate the creative process when you‘re writing music together?

Lya: ‘The melting pot of nationalities and influences in the band gives rise to a unique creative process; there is no dictatorship on what to do musically or what “rules to follow”. We all have different ideas so finding the balance is the tricky, but ultimately satisfying, goal. We don’t want to be categorised in a particular genre as we like to explore our different musical backgrounds and mix them with new sounds – pretty much like cooking without following a recipe and innovating with spices.’

Activism is an important part of your practice – can you tell us more about that?

Viva: ‘We do feel that activism is important and the creation of Colectiva stemmed from a belief that activism and art should go hand in hand. The project is a political statement and this was very much intentional – we believe that art plays a vital role in creating change and leading people to understand different perspectives.

‘During our collective discussions on the meanings behind our songs, we have seen some definite themes emerging; women’s struggle, domestic violence, resilience of spirit, overcoming adversity and the power in unity. Our next single, ‘How Do You Like Your Ladies’ is a tongue-in cheek reflection on gender dynamics, stereotyping and sexual harassment. We are planning to centre our release campaign around action to tackle sexual violence and discrimination in the music industry.

Alley: ‘Music and art have always had the power not only to connect people but ignite social change through political and social commentary/critique. These critiques, no matter how subtle, or obvious, can simultaneously unite, heal and empower people. As a band, we hope to inspire other women, our audiences and ourselves, not just through our music, but through what we embody as a female, instrumental collective.’

Balimaya Project + Colectiva took place on 2 Oct

More than half a century separates Brazilian composer Heitor Villa Lobos’s suite dedicated to the Amazon region and master photographer Sebastião Salgado’s most recent work, capturing its people and landscapes. Yet over Zoom from his studio in Paris, the photographer shakes his head in disbelief at the concertinaing of time between the two projects.

‘Villa Lobos composed his beautiful suite for Amazonia many years ago. These pictures were the last ones I made – in 2019. But when you put the two together, you get the impression one was made for the other. It’s perfection.’

See just what Salgado means when Britten Sinfonia performs at an extraordinary event blending the two men’s work. Over 200 of Salgado’s evocative black and white photos made in the Amazon region will be shown as the musicians perform Villa-Lobos’s A Floresta do Amazonas, as well as other music that reflects on this stunning part of the world.

‘Villa-Lobos sometimes disappeared for many months. And when he returned, he brought sounds from where he went: the forest, the people. He put all this together and built a homage to the forest,’ says Salgado. ‘As I listened to the eleven movements of A Floresta do Amazonas, I knew exactly what pictures go with which part. I found it incredible that there are more than 50 years between this music being written and my photos.’

Born in Brazil in 1944, Salgado trained as an economist and moved to London in 1971, where he was employed by the International Coffee Organization. His job frequently took him to Africa, where his desire to document the trips sparked his passion for photography. By 1973 he’d abandoned economics and became a full-time photographer, working for agencies including the world-renowned Magnum in 1979 where he stayed for 15 years, before launching his own agency, Amazonas Images.

He specialises in long-term documentary projects that take years and many trips to complete. From 1986–92 he visited 23 countries for Workers, which documented the end of large-scale manual labour. A year later, he began Migrations, this time photographing people who’d left the countryside to live in cities. It took him to 43 countries and every continent.

Following visits to the Amazon during the 80s and 90s, it was on his last project Genesis – an eight-year, 30-expedition world survey – that he noticed how much of the rainforest had been destroyed. Determined to capture this ecologically important, beautiful wilderness and its people, he was inspired to start a new project. Amazônia took seven years. He photographed twelve of the approximately 190 different tribes in the region and amassed hundreds of stunning shots. Many of them are in his new book, and will be shown at an exhibition opening at the Science Museum this month.

‘For me, it was a huge pleasure because Amazonia is a paradise on earth. Its beauty, purity, the incredible population that lives in total communion with nature.’

In total, he made 38 trips to the Amazon for this project, sometimes travelling for weeks at a time to reach the remote tribespeople who live in the forest with the help of FUNAI, the National Indian Association of Brazil, which manages all contact between outsiders and Indigenous communities. ‘I remember once I left Manaus (the capital of the state of Amazonas in Brazil), I stepped onto the boat and didn’t touch dry land again for 35 days,’ recalls the photographer.

‘Amazonia is so huge that there are many people who’ve never been contacted by other humans. There’s a lot of different kinds of tribes. But all the tribes are in danger because we are destroying Amazonia.’

He says he wanted to record the Indigenous people’s way of life in case it was lost, but also to remind the wider world of the importance of the Amazon.

‘I believe it’s important to show their way of life, their behaviour. To fix in memory – because photography is memory – who they are, for other generations.

‘I wanted to show how peaceful the people are, how full of dignity. To present them in a way that people could understand a little bit about the region and the importance of nature. I wanted to show that we must all join together in a movement to protect these tribes and this region.’

When you picture it in your mind’s eye, the Amazon is a riot of colour. Every green you can imagine, the bright reds and yellows of poisonous frogs, rainbow-like macaws and iridescent hummingbirds. With this rich palate in his viewfinder, why does Salgado shoot in black and white?

‘In reality, there’s no black and no white in the photos,’ he smiles. ‘The different tones of grey represent all the colours. So, when you look at my pictures, they come alive in your imagination. And it’s in these moments that you are becoming part of this picture. You are building part of my picture in your mind, and in this moment, it becomes mine and it becomes yours. That makes it much more powerful than just a colour image that you don’t need to use your brain for.’

Sebastião Salgado: Amazônia in concert takes place on 14 Oct

Members event – Sebastião Salgado: Amazônia in concert open rehearsal takes place on 14 Oct

‘I think a lot of the way we write is quite organic,’ says trumpeter, vocalist and leader of KOKOROKO, Sheila Maurice-Grey. She’s also one-seventh of Nérija, the jazz supergroup made up of some of today’s shining lights in the London scene. ‘It very much reflects the time in which we were. I think a lot of things that happen in Nérija are quite natural and effortless.’

There is a definite natural energy coming from this septet, all of whom have their own successful individual careers. If you’ve had even half an eye on the ‘new wave of British jazz’ you’ll know them: Nubya Garcia (tenor saxophone), Sheila Maurice-Grey (trumpet), Cassie Kinoshi (alto saxophone), Rosie Turton (trombone), Shirley Tetteh (guitar), Lizy Exell (drums) and Rio Kai (bass).

Many of the group met through Tomorrow’s Warriors, explains Tetteh. But although they each have their own ideas and individual approaches to music, they navigate the musical directions in the collective well.

Kai explains: ‘When we wrote our last album, Blume, we wanted to have a group approach to writing a song. It’s very explorative. Everyone had some input.

‘We’re all quite different musicians in our own right, which makes that process really interesting, because something that a band member might interpret one way, someone else would interpret totally differently. And it’s exciting to see how that then manifests in the music.’

The results are certainly exciting. Blume is a blend of styles and influences that is immediately enjoyable, but on more and more listens just increases in depth. As it was released in late 2019, the group’s not had much chance to play it live, so this concert will be treat.

They’re particularly looking forward to sharing a bill with Charles Lloyd, the spiritual jazz legend. ‘It feels quite surreal,’ says Kai, who says he would play ‘Forest Flower Chain’ every week at his shows at Grow in Hackney Wick.

‘We definitely flipped out on the Whatsapp group,’ grins Tetteh.

Charles Lloyd + Nérija takes place on 20 Nov
Part of EFG London Jazz Festival