Barbican announces new digital content, pays tribute to NHS, and appoints interim Artistic Director.
Thursday, May 07, 2020
The Barbican has made more free digital content available, including a tribute to the late drummer and founding father of Afrobeat, Tony Allen. Press release attached.
We have received the following press release;
Barbican announces new digital content, pays tribute to the NHS and appoints interim Artistic Director
The Barbican today announces new digital content available for everyone to read, watch and listen to for free. All content is available at barbican.org.uk/readwatchlisten and via the Barbican’s social channels.
Highlights include:
A Tony Allen playlist, curated by Strut Records in tribute to the legendary Afrobeat drummer, who last appeared at the Barbican in 2019
Complicité’s award-winning production of The Encounter (2015), filmed at the Barbican, accompanied by a live discussion event and public Q&A with Simon McBurney
A specially recommissioned and recorded conversation between Karen Knorr and Anna Fox, two of the artists featured in Masculinities: Liberation through Photography (2020) in the Art Gallery
Family favourites chosen by Barbican Cinema curator Susie Evans to keep the over 5s entertained during lockdown
Inspired by the Barbican’s international arts programme, the curated mix of podcasts, playlists, films, videos, talks and articles enables audiences to continue to enjoy the Centre’s rich and varied programme.
Podcasts can be accessed from the Read, Watch & Listen page or by subscribing to the Nothing Concrete podcast via Acast, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
While the artistic programme moves online, the entrance to the Centre on Silk Street now displays a message of thanks to the NHS (download the image here), and on Thursdays the Conservatory will be illuminated in blue to coincide with the weekly nationwide applause for NHS workers and carers.
Meanwhile, the Barbican has recently appointed Leonora Thomson as interim Artistic Director, following Louise Jeffreys’ departure from the role in April this year. Leo first joined the Barbican in 2008 as Head of Communications, and in 2010 became Director of Audiences and Development. In 2015 she joined Welsh National Opera as Managing Director, where she worked until last year.
Leo Thomson, interim Artistic Director, Barbican said:
“We’re really pleased that people are enjoying the programming we’re curating for them on our Read, Watch & Listen page. We’re presenting a range of content that showcases the uniqueness of the Barbican’s artistic offer, exploring the times we’re living through but also bringing inspiration and joy. I’m thrilled to be working at this incredible institution. Although it’s strange not being in the building, it’s still an honour to help the organisation through this difficult period.”
Digital highlights
Alongside previously announced online highlights including a Nothing Concrete podcast series with Stephen Fry – the second episode of which will be available on Wednesday 13 May, Ballet Black’s streaming of Ingoma (2019), two short films commissioned for the cancelled The Lark Ascending: People, Music, Landscape concert, a live discussion between filmmaker Kitty Green, Birds Eye View director Mia Bays and Barbican curator Sonia Zadurian about The Assistant, and a Q&A with Barbican Visual Arts Curator Alona Pardo about the exhibition Masculinities: Liberation through Photography, this week’s new digital content includes:
Music
Celebrating Tony Allen
Following the sad news of legendary Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen’s death on 30 April 2020, the Barbican’s Spotify channel now hosts a playlist: Barbican Profile: Tony Allen, as a tribute. A career retrospective, this playlist is curated by Strut Records and covers the full breadth of music performed by Tony Allen, beginning with his work with Fela Kuti and ending with his final track with Gorillaz.
Tony Allen last performed at the Barbican on 21 February 2019 in a collaborative concert alongside producer and composer Jeff Mills and he celebrated his 70th birthday with a special concert at the centre in 2010. Bryn Ormrod, Creative Producer at the Barbican said: “I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of legendary Tony Allen. Tony was a beautiful person with a unique talent and a wicked sense of humour, it was easy to feel affinity with him. His drumming changed music forever; a pioneer of Afrobeat along with Fela, he also had a deep love of jazz, to which he returned with a recent release on Blue Note. We were honoured to have him grace the Barbican stage on many occasions - most recently with Jeff Mills. He leaves an indelible, joyful imprint and legacy in our hearts, minds and ears.”
The playlist is compiled by Quinton Scott at Strut. The label specialises in archive compilations ranging from African, Caribbean and Latin styles to underground disco and post-punk and has also released new studio projects by Mulatu Astatke, Pat Thomas, Seun Kuti, Ebo Taylor and more.
Cinema
Curators’ Picks
This week’s Cinema Curators’ Picks come from Susie Evans, as she suggests family favourites to keep the over 5s entertained during lockdown. Susie is curator of films and workshops for the Barbican’s hugely popular Saturday morning Family Film Club and the annual Family Film Weekender.
For children (and adults) Buster Keaton’s slapstick never loses its appeal. Susie recommends three shorts: One Week (USA 1920), The Scarecrow (USA 1920) and The Haunted House (USA 1921). Another Family Film Club perennial favourite for the whole family is Kirikou and the Sorceress (France/ Belgium 1998, Dir Michel Ocelot) (U), a captivating animation based on traditional west African folk tales.
Also on her list of must-sees is the ever-popular Moomins and the Comet Chase (Finland 2010, Dir Maria Lindberg) (U), which follows the lovable Tove Jansson characters on further adventures; Alfonso Cuarón’s beautifully shot A Little Princess, (UK 1995) (U), about a young girl’s tribulations at boarding school; and Big Bad Fox and Other Tales (France/ Belgium 2017, Dir Patrick Imbert) (U), a quirky trio of stories following the trials of a put upon fox and his rivalry with the local chickens. Susie Evans’ picks will be available on the Barbican’s Read, Watch & Listen page.
Please note that subscription fees apply for selected streaming platforms.
Theatre and Dance
The Encounter available to stream
For one week, from Friday 15 – Friday 22 May, Complicité’s award-winning production of The Encounter (2015), co-produced with and filmed at the Barbican, is available to stream here. Directed and performed by Simon McBurney, it will be accompanied by a live discussion event and public Q&A on Wednesday 20 May at 7.30pm. Audiences can register for the event at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xx91TL0fTuSMyesYwDVKXg.
Cheek by Jowl podcast
Every Friday, Cheek by Jowl’s Artistic Directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod release a new podcast, in conversation with the host Lucie Dawkins. Insights into theatre, acting, directing and life are discussed around a particular theme each week. The podcast is available here.
Visual Arts
Karen Knorr and Anna Fox in conversation
On Tuesday 12 May, the Barbican releases a recording of In Conversation: Karen Knorr and Anna Fox on Mixcloud. Originally part of the public programme for Masculinities: Liberation through Photography (2020), and cancelled due to the temporary closure of the Centre, this talk has been specially recommissioned and recorded. The artists, both featured in the exhibition, discuss their practise, career experiences and the show.
Revisiting Strange and Familiar: Britain as Revealed by International Photographers (2016)
Every Thursday from 14 May the Barbican Instagram channel @barbicancentre hosts #ThrowbackThursday, looking back into the archives at some of the standout exhibitions of the last 15 years. This week focuses on Strange and Familiar: Britain as Revealed by International Photographers (2016) which was curated by iconic British photographer Martin Parr.
Exploring the archive
Past Barbican Art Gallery exhibitions can be experienced via the Google Arts & Culture platform. Virtual walk-throughs of The Vulgar: Fashion Redefined (2016), The Japanese House: Architecture and Life after 1945 (2017) and Another Kind of Life: Photography on the Margins (2018), as well as long-reads on a range of exhibitions and topics including the Lee Krasner: Living Colour (2019) show, are available.
BARBICAN TEMPORARY CLOSURE INFORMATION
The Barbican is temporarily closed until further notice due to UK Government advice on Coronavirus/Covid-19. All events taking place until Tuesday 30 June 2020 have now been cancelled or postponed. Everyone who has booked a ticket for a Barbican event during this period is eligible for a full refund. Information on how to claim this is published here. Anyone who has tickets up until the end of June has been contacted by the Box Office.
The Barbican is encouraging audiences to make a donation so it can keep investing in the artists and organisations with whom it works. Audiences are also being asked to consider donating to the Centre’s Resident and Associate companies to support them through these difficult times.
About the Barbican
A world-class arts and learning organisation, the Barbican pushes the boundaries of all major art forms including dance, film, music, theatre and visual arts. Its creative learning programme further underpins everything it does. Over a million people attend events annually, hundreds of artists and performers are featured, and more than 300 staff work onsite. The architecturally renowned centre opened in 1982 and comprises the Barbican Hall, the Barbican Theatre, The Pit, Cinemas 1, 2 and 3, Barbican Art Gallery, a second gallery The Curve, public spaces, a library, the Lakeside Terrace, a glasshouse conservatory, conference facilities and three restaurants. The City of London Corporation is the founder and principal funder of the Barbican Centre.
The Barbican is home to Resident Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra; Associate Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra; Associate Ensembles the Academy of Ancient Music and Britten Sinfonia, Associate Producer Serious, and Artistic Partner Create. Our Artistic Associates include Boy Blue, Cheek by Jowl, Deborah Warner, Drum Works and Michael Clark Company. The Los Angeles Philharmonic are the Barbican’s International Orchestral Partner, the Australian Chamber Orchestra are International Associate Ensemble at Milton Court, and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra are International Associate Ensemble.
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