The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra and its conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson joined the Royal Opera House’s Songs for Ukraine Chorus, in a historic performance at St Paul's Cathedral, London. 🎼 The concert, presented by the Barbican, Royal Ballet and Opera House and Askonas Holt, the orchestra and chorus, marked the 200th-anniversary of Beethoven’s Symphony No 9, with the iconic 'Ode to Joy' finale performed in the Ukrainian language. The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra performed at the Barbican last year and now returned to the capital in their tour of the great cathedrals and concert halls of Europe and the USA, continuing their demonstration of Ukrainian artistry as the nation fights for its freedom. 📸 - Mark Allan
About us
The Barbican is a multi-arts, learning, and conference centre in the City of London. We’re a catalyst for creativity, sparking possibilities for artists, audiences, and communities. We’re passionate about showcasing the most exciting art from around the world, pushing traditional artistic boundaries and helping us understand our lives in new and unexpected ways. Each year we present hundreds of different performances, events and exhibitions that entertain and inspire millions of people, create connections, provoke debate, and reflect the world we live in. Central to our purpose is supporting emerging talent, shaping opportunities that will accelerate the next generation of creatives. Opened in 1982, the Barbican is a unique and audacious building, recognised globally as an architectural icon. As well as our theatres, galleries, concert halls and cinemas, we are home to a large conservatory with over 1,500 species of plants and trees, a library, conference facilities, public and community spaces, restaurants, bars, and a picturesque lakeside oasis. Focussed firmly on the future, we’re working on ambitious plans to transform our building, reimaging what an arts centre can be and doing our part to address the climate crisis. Through our work on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, we will ensure the Barbican becomes a place where everyone belongs – where creativity, enterprise, and learning coexist, and everybody can achieve their fullest potential.
- Website
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http://www.barbican.org.uk
External link for Barbican Centre
- Industry
- Performing Arts
- Company size
- 201-500 employees
- Headquarters
- London
- Type
- Nonprofit
- Founded
- 1982
- Specialties
- arts, theatre, classical music, contemporary music, performing arts, visual arts, film, art gallery, city of london, multi-arts, london, dance, education, learning, theatre, cinema, charity, young people, and families
Locations
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Primary
Get directions
Barbican Centre
Silk Street
London, EC2Y 8DS, GB
Employees at Barbican Centre
Updates
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We have joined over 170 cultural organisations to support #CultureMakes, a UK-wide initiative run by the Cultural Philanthropy Foundation, which highlights the positive impact of culture and the need for greater investment. This month we’re celebrating the social benefits that the Barbican brings to the lives of real people. One example is differently various, a show curated by charity Headway East London’s members, which showcased the creative expressions of people living with brain injuries. The show received multiple five-star reviews and achieved 5.5k visitors over its nine-day run. differently various raised important questions on who gets to be an artist, engaged the public around brain injury awareness and platformed new voices at the Barbican.
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Today, Claire Spencer AM, CEO of the Barbican, has confirmed that she will step down from her role. Claire has been instrumental in leading the Barbican and played an important role in supporting our reopening and recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic. She has made huge contributions to our Barbican Renewal Programme – a once-in-a-generation opportunity to upgrade and revitalise our iconic building. And she has championed our transformative Equity, Diversity and Inclusion agenda which will make the Barbican a place where everyone belongs. We’re grateful for her leadership and dedication, and we wish her the very best. The Chair of our Board, Sir William Russell, has shared his own thanks to Claire for her hugely positive contribution to the Barbican. [https://lnkd.in/dDKPME2t]. David Farnsworth, Managing Director of City Bridge Foundation, will act as our interim CEO and be supported by Ali Mirza, Interim Deputy CEO and the rest of our brilliant team of Directors.
To my LinkedIn Community, I wanted to let you know that I have resigned from my position as CEO of the Barbican Centre. This has not been a decision I have arrived at lightly. Joining the Barbican has been one of the great privileges of my career and I have given it my all. Over these last two years, working with the brilliant Barbican Team we have achieved a lot. I believe it is time to hand over to someone with fresh legs (football analogy still stands this week) to lead the Centre into the next phase of its future. The Barbican is a special place with its own unique history – together with the Barbican Team we have walked through a period of significant change, creating positive momentum of systemic transformation. There are a few things that especially stand out to me. We created and activated a values-based strategy centred on sustainable development, equity, diversity and inclusion, leading to a different Barbican Centre than the one that emerged after the pandemic - one with the purpose and values to guide it through further transformation in the years ahead. We also secured the seed funding and support to commence the renewal of the building’s infrastructure. The Barbican will now be able to function long into the future, remain a leading destination for the Arts and open the creative experience for everyone. We haven’t only secured the physical future of the Barbican - but we have set the path to rebuild trust within our entire ecosystem: the team, the local community, funders, donors, and crucially the audiences and artists who fill our spaces every day. It has been a privilege to serve at the Barbican Centre. I am proud of all that we have achieved in this time. My thanks go to the Barbican Board, the City of London Corporation and the many wonderful artists and supporters who work with us. And my deep thanks to the Barbican Team - who have collaborated with me in this endeavour. Their brilliance and commitment are immeasurable, and I am confident that I leave the Centre in their very capable hands.
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Did you know it has been 70 years since the first Godzilla film? 🦎 To mark this special anniversary of giant lizards and destruction, we’re looking back at a selection of the finest Japanese monster movies, featuring giant battle royales, a colossal flying moth, a psychedelic toxic smog monster and of course, Godzilla. While these films featuring kaiju (literally meaning ‘strange beasts’) have long been loved in Japan, they have recently gained greater appreciation around the world – culminating with Godzilla Minus One winning an Oscar. Our cinema series, ‘All Kaiju Attack! 70 years of Japanese Monster Movies’ will feature seven of the wildest movies from the genre, with introductions from historians and experts. For more information on the films, dates and to book tickets see here 👉 https://lnkd.in/evTKAnu2 🎥 - Beck Hunter
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What was the first record you ever bought? 💽 Our Barbican Shop is now hosting a specially curated pop-up store from legendary independent music retailer, Rough Trade. Delve into an extensive selection of vinyl records featuring Rough Trade’s pick of new and emerging music from the independent scene, some of the most influential names to come out of the capital, as well as records from some of the many artists to have performed headline shows at the Barbican, both past and present. The collection is perfect for all music lovers and the pop-up store will be at the Barbican from now until the end of the year. Our shop is open 11am-8pm Monday-Friday, 10am-8pm Saturday and 10am-7pm Sunday. For more information see here 👉 https://lnkd.in/esXksYgY
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Are you interested in supporting a new wave of immersive artists and play a vital role in bringing new audiences to the Barbican? If so, then we want to hear from you as our Barbican Immersive team is looking for a Senior Producer. ✨ Barbican Immersive creates transformative immersive experiences which explore some of the world’s most challenging and inspirational themes through new and innovative digital ways. As Senior Producer, you will help shape our Immersive programme and ensure that we’re harnessing the power of digital art to present intentional, imaginative and engaging content that reframes our audience’s understanding and perception of our rapidly changing world. The role will close on Tuesday 22 July 2024 and for more information or to apply see our website here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eirnvDZF
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Brighter evenings, crescent moons and orange skies reveal the beauty of the Barbican at dusk. 🌆 Longer summer days allows extra exploration time – our site is full of hidden gems, so make use of our various high walks and iconic settings to discover new inspirations at every turn. Thank you to the incredible photographers who captured the charm of our concrete in the low light. ✨ 📸 @barbicanstreetlevel 📸 @antonrodriguez 📸 @carolynelw 📸 @dec_michel 📸 @barb_icon 📸 @Jack.mama5
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A very warm welcome to our new Director for Arts and Participation, Devyani Saltzman, who joined the Barbican this week. Devyani will be collaborating closely with our arts and participation teams and the wider creative community to produce our exciting programme that entertains and inspires millions of people every year, creates connections, provokes debate, and supports the next generation of creatives. Great to have you with us, Devyani!
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Do you remember playing musical chairs, conkers or grandma’s footsteps? 🧒 These games may have different names across the world, but an understanding of them is universal. Our new exhibition from Belgian artist Francis Alÿs, titled Ricochets, celebrates the global understanding and ingenuity of play. Since the 1990s, Alÿs has travelled all over the world to film children at play for his critically acclaimed series ‘Children's Games’ – capturing the spontaneous moments where children gather on the street, usually without toys, playgrounds, or adult supervision. Described as heart-stopping and frequently beautiful in The Guardian, the show transforms our gallery into a cinematic playground and is a welcoming space for all children. You’re encouraged to play in the space, use your body to cast shadows and prompted to act out playful instructions conceived in workshops with children from three schools local to the Barbican. During the Second World War, this part of the city was razed to the ground, giving way to the earliest adventure playgrounds made of rubble and brought to life by children. This site-specific history resonates with Alÿs, who has also documented children’s mental resilience in conflict zones, from Iraq to Afghanistan and Ukraine. Ricochets will run in our art gallery until Sunday 1 Sep 2024. For more information or to book tickets see here 👉 https://lnkd.in/e8KeQUt9
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We’re supporting #CultureMakes, a UK-wide initiative run by the Cultural Philanthropy Foundation, which highlights the positive impact of culture and the need for greater investment. 🎨 🎵 🎭 🎦 This month we’re celebrating our economic impact. The work we do has a significant economic footprint and contributes towards the creation of jobs, opportunities and strengthens activities in the City of London and wider UK. Each year, we welcome around 1.4 million visitors to the Barbican where we run 4,000 events. Our commitment to supporting the next generation of artists has seen us run over 230 educational programmes to 49,000 participants in 2022/23, providing the resources needed to increase accessibility into the creative industries.