The Art Conference

1st July - 2nd October

Celebrating the 500th anniversary of Thomas More’s inspirational book Utopia, Paths to Utopia is a collection of new art works resulting from collaborations between artists, performers, architects, technologists and King’s College London academics.

In this unique cultural hub, audiences will have the chance to encounter whales, ascend to a community on the clouds and witness the ubiquitous, transcendental pursuit of creativity.

This wide-ranging exhibition features new works from Le Gun Collective, author Philip Hoare and artist Caitlin Shepherd amongst others. On show will be films, immersive installations, durational performance, a national scratch choir and loans from The Courtauld Gallery, that allow audiences to create a figurative map of what Utopia means in today’s society. Paths to Utopia seeks to question our contemporary understanding of Utopia and to examine Thomas More’s vision.

With artist/academic collaborations that bring together health, education and creativity, this truly unique exhibition bridges art forms. Running for three months across King’s College London’s Strand Campus and Somerset House, the work in this exhibition ranges from the ephemeral to the permanent. The exhibition is free to attend, but a number of the pieces need to be pre-booked. Throughout the summer, there will also be a series of talks related to the projects in Paths to Utopia.

Paths to Utopia is part of Utopia 2016: A year of imagination and possibility is a collaboration between three neighbours: Somerset House, King’s College London and the Courtauld Institute.

Highlights of Paths to Utopia include:

Discord – 20th August –2nd October
Through the experience of Discord participants must accept that any Utopia can only be lived by the individual and not enforced onto another. Be prepared to be challenged as we are invited to reflect on who is really setting the agenda of domestic and economic perfection. Artist Caitlin Shepherd has interviewed people about their perfect home to create this immersive installation which questions how our ideas of Utopia differ. Created with James Wood (King’s College London) and Victoria Johnson (Sound and Music).

We account the whale immortal: Film and performance – 1st July – 2nd October
The whale forever exists, like Utopia, as a parable, a myth, and a nightmare – caught between the wide open ocean and our two-dimensional confinement, between reality and imagination. We account the whale immortal, an ever-changing film and a one-off performance, explores the arrival of three mythic whales in the Thames, from the 17th to the 21st century, as evocative emblems of Utopian intent. Created by Jessica Sarah Rinland (Artist Filmmaker), Dr Edward Sugden (King’s College London) and Philip Hoare (Writer, Broadcast & Curator).

The Naming of Clouds – 2nd July, 6th August and 3rd September
The Naming of Clouds is a series of inter-related performances, displays, talks and gatherings which allows audiences to explore the utopic possibilities of cloud walking. Taking place on the first weekend of every month on the River Terrace, the performances and events look at the cultural significance of clouds, making an imaginary ascent into the clouds, venturing through the history of cloud walking and crunching through the icy upper-reaches of cirrus. Looking at the landscape of the skies, The Naming of Clouds considers how air and water have become human history, how the wind reshapes our love and life and how the weather alters who we can be. The Naming of Clouds emerges from a collaborative process between Philip Stanier (The Strange Names Collective) with Penny Newell (poet and PhD candidate, King's College London).

Night school on Anarres: Imaginings of an anarchist Utopia – 1st July – 14th August
Night school on Anarres is an educational experiment examining the Utopian proposals of twentieth-century anarchism.