Discover London Sculpture Week highlights, according to Stella Ioannou, Artistic Director of Sculpture in the City and Founding Director of Lacuna.

London Sculpture Week is a partnership between four arts organisations all delivering public art in London. What is fascinating about these unique art organisations is how each project lives in a distinctive part of London. We have Sculpture in the City in the very urban environment of the City Cluster, Frieze Sculpture in the bucolic The Regents Park, The Line on the waterways of East London and The Fourth Plinth in the majestic space of Trafalgar Square. 

This week full of events and activities is a great opportunity to experience all four projects in their distinct spaces and be inspired by a wealth of contemporary public art responding to current issues and the space in which they are experienced. 

My first top pick of London Sculpture Week is SculptureFest (Saturday 16th September 2023) – a day of family-friendly tours and workshops. In particular, I’m very excited to see the Little Art Critics TV workshops (11am ,1pm, 2.45pm) where children aged 5-12 years are invited to give their first impressions of the artworks in the 12th Edition of Sculpture in the City. There will be three different workshops starting and ending in three different locations to enlarge the reach of the project. Onsite we will have two award-winning filmmakers accompanied by two facilitators who will go around interviewing children on their first impressions of the artworks. They will be asked a range of questions from critiquing the works to considering what the artist felt when making the piece. What is remarkable about this initiative is that the footage will be live-edited over the course of the day in time for an onsite public film screening at 5.45pm, which is open to all – popcorn will be served! Editing the film on the same day of shooting lends a vibrancy and immediacy to this project, further heightened by the unfiltered thoughts and feelings of the participating children.

I’d also highly recommend the We Poetry Workshop (drop-in 10.30am -5.30pm) with artist Emma Smith, whose work ‘We’ is on display for the 12th edition of Sculpture in the City. This neon text work highlights the precarious nature of relationships and the easy slippage between togetherness and isolation. The neon work reads WE ARE ALL ONE where the first L in the word ALL is set to flicker as if faulty, meaning the work is in constant flux between the statements WE ARE ALL ONE and WE ARE ALONE. While offering two seemingly contrasting texts through the same sign the work also offers a paradox: if we are all ‘one’, one is a multitude, and if ‘we’ are alone, to be alone is a shared experience. The We Poetry Workshop involves inviting public members to write poetry on wooden slats starting with the word ‘we’ to form a collective poem. Do come along to The Leadenhall Building (aka The Cheesegrater) for the day to take part in this collaborative poetry writing workshop!

On the same day as the We Poetry Workshop we are also launching our series of free tours of Sculpture in the City, and I’d like to highlight the BSL guided tour with architect and art guide Martin Glover (11am - 1pm). Martin, a deaf BSL user, is a trained architect and art facilitator. Across the country, he delivers tours and workshops on contemporary art, architecture, street art, and public art/sculpture. He also manages his Digitspace bproject, championing better visual art access nationally. We’re delighted to have Martin leading one of our tours of Sculpture in the City.

On the 17th September I will be heading out to The Line for Simon Faithfull’s performance lecture (2pm) at Cody Dock to mark the launch of 0º00 Navigation Part II. 0º00 Navigation is a body of work by artist Simon Faithfull, relating to two epic journeys he undertook in order to trace 0° line of longitude across the planet. The work seeks to explore the paradoxes and absurdities of this hypothetical line. This installation consists of 38 paving stones that are engraved with drawings made by the artist as he travelled south along the Greenwich Meridian across Europe and Africa. Depicting the landscapes and buildings along the route, from the English Channel to Accra in Ghana, the stones are installed in a straight line, due south to echo Faithfull’s journey, following the invisible north / south line. The Greenwich Meridian runs parallel to this installation.

After Simon’s performance lecture, I'll make my way back into town for the Introduction to the Fourth Plinth (4pm) in Trafalgar Square. The Fourth Plinth is such an icon of London’s cultural offering–a conversation starter for London natives and tourists alike, from Ship in a Bottle to the giant Thumb’s Up sculpture. On the Fourth Plinth at the moment is Malawi-born artist Samson Kambalu’s Antelope, exploring uncanny naturalism. 

On Thursday 21st I will be joining the Autumn Equinox tour of Frieze Sculpture (8pm with a second tour at 8.45pm). The sculpture I’m especially excited to see is Zak Ové’s The Mothership Connection, 2021 presented by Gallery 1957. The Mothership Connection, stands just under 9 metres tall and is a futuristic totemic sculpture honouring the past whilst looking to the future. Based on themes of storytelling and their ability to convey and reframe history, myth, and legend—and in seeking to reinterpret old-world artisan culture for today’s audience using modern materials—The Mothership Connection interweaves elements of Totem making from the Pacific Northwest with architectural references to the contribution of slaves and indentured labour in creating some of the most historic and representational buildings both in the UK and in the US. 

Finally on the 24th I will be heading back to The Regent’s Park for Jyll Bradley’s ‘Welcome to the Hop’ Open Call (2pm - 4pm). I can’t wait to see her work The Hop, inspired by the stories of many families who travelled from London to bring in the hop harvest in the fields of Kent. The geometric design and bright colours are characteristic of Bradley’s work, reminding me of her work Dutch/Light, included in the 9th Edition of Sculpture in the City, also made of colourful plexiglass and repurposed wood. I’m very much looking forward to catching up with Jyll at her public gatherings.

Pick up a physical map at #LondonSculptureWeek sites across London, or use the digital guide on the Bloomberg Connects app to browse events too.

View the full London Sculpture Week programme here.

Due to the popularity of the free tours and events, booking is required. Booking information is detailed here and on all of the relevant websites.

Words by Stella Ioannou,

Artistic Director Sculpture in the City and Founding Director Lacuna