The Barbican: Immersive Exhibition on Music

How do we inspire anticipation, awe, curiosity, and wonder?

Mona Kim Projects was invited by the Barbican to propose a concept for its 1,200 sq.m traveling immersive exhibition about Music. The sites included the cultural center’s iconic spaces: The Curve gallery, Lakeside Terrace, and the Foyer. We were interested in strategic space-making that connects all sites, and the strong use of light and sound as spatial identity and wayfinding.

Both artistic and functional, our bold proposal enagaged words, sounds, light, and sculptural forms to evoke the intangible and dynamic nature of music, while bringing flexibility, travelability, and wide possibilities to the spatial and experiential programme. It a great opportunity (and challenging acoustics exercise!) to explore how we can capture movement, sensoriality, and spirituality embodied in this sublime subject matter.

We also went beyond the brief by proposing a powerful name for the exhibition, “Resonance,” which references the powerful lasting effect in both art and science of music, and in life, while evoking inclusivity and universality of music.

None of this (including making it to the final stage) could have been possible without my favorite A-team. We have created something beautiful together!