Our time capsule

The original time capsule

Did you know that buried deep in the foundations of the Centre is a time capsule? It was laid in the early 1970s as building work got underway and has stayed untouched ever since.

This fascinating footage was filmed by Jack Waller, an engineer who worked for a number of years from start to finish on the building site. This homemade footage was kindly donated by his daughter, Janet Flint.

What do you think is hidden inside? Well, whatever it may be, it's inspired us to create this digital time capsule to mark our 40th birthday. What's hidden inside? Scroll to find out!

A new novel inspired by the Barbican! Written by Ayma Warman.

Mechanical Fairytales of Their Industrial Romance, A Fictional Guide on Acting Real is a high-concept novel by Ayma Warman. A labour of love crafted over twenty years, many themes covered in the novel are influenced by the variety of artists, their performances and exhibitions at the Barbican since 1992 until the present day. Ayma, having attended university graduation ceremony alone - no family - held at the Barbican, it was one of the most self-conscious moments in life for Ayma. Had it not been for the Barbican’s artistic world where awkward-loneliness is embraced and channelled, Ayma would not have felt the melancholic emptiness inside filled with something inexplicable. No longer feeling like an empty box full of space, but something else that to this day no words exist to describe, Ayma quickly secured an apartment for rent at the Barbican. What followed were many truly amazing, enriching times. Aside from key scenes in the novel taking place at the Barbican, Mechanical Fairytales is an attempt to produce something that resonates with as many non-readers as possible. The ultimate aim is to convert non-fiction readers. The books are intended to tune into what the world fears and something timeless about real issues that cause people to wonder about a place where death dies, technology peaks to an inversion and regresses the human chase so that it once again becomes the human race. But most of the collection of volumes focus on a key fear: love. Like all people, Ayma’s life experiences have been informative and a good deal of people are afraid of love.

An introduction

Nobody ever graduates with honours from the world-renowned drama school, Pangea Speech and Movement (PSM) based in London.  

Heirs to the powerful Foster-Parker dynasty, John Parker and Rya Foster, have achieved the impossible . . . but there’s no sign of them . . . Both simply vanished without trace after enrolling on an employment programme at a mysterious firm.  

The ensuing police investigation, led by a father and son detective team, reveals further PSM graduates reported missing soon after accepting lucrative employment contracts at the same firm. 

When John and Rya unexpectedly return home alive and well, truth is now their weakness and with only lies as their strength something, somewhere is very, very wrong. A powerful family dynasty and a sinister firm go up against a family of sharp detectives; over the course of three decades, good and evil collide only to forge an alliance against a new more powerful force, a place where death dies and roles reverse: where youth is no longer wasted on the young, education not wasted on the stupid and wisdom never wasted on the old. With souls at civil war, true and false will fighting for supremacy in their hearts, who will carry the heaviest weight, tipping the scales of humanity to what end?  

Mechanical Fairytales will be published very soon, keep an eye out for it!

In this short film, directed by Sophia Loren Heriveaux (Goldfin Films), we explored the striking parallels between the life and works of Jean Dubuffet and Jean-Michel Basquiat. We’ll never know if the two artists ever actually met but seeing their work stand up alongside one another’s, despite a 60-year age gap, is a testament to Basquiat’s prodigious talents and Dubuffet’s relentless invention.

We joined writer, actor, comedian and campaigner Stephen Fry in conversation with journalist Chris Gunness for a four-part series taking Beethoven’s Heiligenstadt Testament to spark conversations on music, art, mental health and the healing power of art. 

The Art of Change was a series where we meet with artists and performers, who are passionate about changing the world.

Barbican Sessions is an online series of short gigs, from artists we admire performing in locations around our building. Latinx jazz collective Colectiva joined us to perform an exclusive piece in the Milton Court Theatre.

On this podcast episode of ScreenTalks Archive, we chatted with Naomi Alderman, about the film adaptation of her first novel, Disobedience.

Naomi Alderman discusses the themes of the film, and her novel – community, faith, desire – and the interesting differences that a novel and a film can bring to a story, not least their endings.