Cloud songs on the horizon (Detail)
The commission is realised in partnership with the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA).
We are delighted to announce that the Barbican’s iconic Conservatory will host a spectacular new site-specific commission by Indian sculptor Ranjani Shettar, opening to the public on 10 September 2023.
Cloud songs on the horizon, the artist’s first major institutional show in Europe, will feature a series of new, large-scale suspended sculptures across the entirety of the Conservatory’s 23,000 square foot space. A tropical oasis in the heart of London, the Barbican Conservatory is home to a vibrant mix of 1,500 species of plants and trees from across the world. Shettar’s sculptures, currently in production in her studio in southern India, are each handcrafted by the artist and draw inspiration from the complexity of nature. They will employ a range of materials including wood, stainless steel, muslin, lacquer and techniques that have been adapted from traditional Indian crafts.
Shettar’s commission, realised in partnership with the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), will be the first public-facing project commissioned by the Barbican’s recently appointed Head of Visual Arts Shanay Jhaveri, initiating an ambitious programme of public art across the Centre’s iconic site which is visited by more than a million visitors each year.
Since taking up his position in October 2022, Jhaveri has focused on bringing his unique vision to the Barbican’s visual arts programme, exploring the interconnections between disciplines, periods, and cultures. Central to this will be inviting contemporary artists from around the world to create new work in response to the Barbican’s unparalleled setting, which is recognised as one of the most significant architectural achievements of the 20th century. Jhaveri’s ambition is to showcase artistic interventions across the Barbican’s public spaces and introduce the most dynamic, invigorating and stimulating art practices to our diverse audiences.
Launching the programme, Shettar’s commission will be free to visit, enhancing public access to the Conservatory with increased visiting hours from September and throughout the installation's run. Special late-night openings every Friday will offer visitors a chance to explore the much-loved tropical oasis after hours and, on a series of forthcoming dates, the space will be open exclusively for community and school groups to enjoy, turning the Conservatory into a living classroom.
Speaking about the new commission, Barbican Head of Visual Arts Shanay Jhaveri says: “Ranjani’s installation inaugurates a new Barbican series of site-specific commissions which will allow artists to directly engage with the architecture and public spaces of this modernist icon. With these collaborations, the Barbican is offering itself to the most inspiring artists working today, platforming important, challenging new work for an ever-expanding audience. Their perspective and interventions will not only allow us to continue to grow our own appreciation of our building and legacy but will also crucially guide us in meeting and knowing our present moment – and there could not be a more perfect artist than Ranjani Shettar to start us on our way”.
Speaking about the choice of artist, he says: “Over the past twenty years Shettar has evolved a distinctive, process-driven visual language that is entirely her own. Her suspended abstract forms transform enduring modernist preoccupations, through a profound sensitivity for materials and a deep embodiment of an ecological consciousness, all emanating from a local context. In their elegant quietude they achieve something astounding, gently raising our awareness, to query how is it that we are connected spatially, materially, emotionally to this world.”
Kiran Nadar, Founder and Chairperson, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art says: “Ranjani Shettar’s practice has been of particular interest to the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) since we first acquired and installed her work at the museum in 2011. We have been closely observing her artistic evolution that combines her rare sensitivity with patient working. The site-initiated project at the Barbican Conservatory is well aligned with our collaborative efforts at bringing visibility and critical attention to the huge talent of Indian and South Asian artists across the globe.”
Shettar’s commission reflects Jhaveri’s commitment to ensuring the Barbican’s visual arts offer continues to showcase the best artists from around the world, delivering a diverse and international programme across the Barbican Art Gallery, The Curve and beyond.
Cementing the Barbican’s long-standing track record for supporting artists, Jhaveri’s vision is for the Barbican to be one of the UK’s leading commissioners of new artistic work. Longstanding initiatives such as The Curve programme, which champions many artists who have not yet had a major institutional show in the UK, will continue, and new opportunities will be introduced through an ambitious programme of art commissioning for the Barbican’s public spaces.
Jhaveri is also focused on enabling a more cross-collaborative approach between creative disciplines spanning contemporary art, design, fashion, and architecture, and championing cross-departmental projects across the Barbican’s core art forms – which as well as Art & Design include Music, Cinema, Theatre & Dance – and the Barbican Renewal programme. Projects are currently in development and will start to be evident in the Barbican’s programme from next year.