The London Residency 2015
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season review 2014 / 15 John Tomlinson © Sidd Khajuria John Tomlinson Sir Nicholas Kenyon © Sheila Rock Sir Nicholas Kenyon Now, more than ever, we need the arts. We need London is arguably the leading global city to them to try to understand our fractured world, live, work and do business. Recent reports have bring people together in shared communities, and confirmed it as the top global tourist destination celebrate our common humanity. Over the past as well as the world's leading financial centre. year the Barbican has offered an extraordinary A major reason for this success is the quality wealth of events to its audiences, who have of London’s artistic offer in which the Barbican responded with openness and adventurousness. plays a key role, fittingly complementing the creativity and dynamism of the City itself. We’ve had our highest attendance figures ever for a programme that ranges more widely, and This year we have become more global than ever, has travelled further afield, than ever before. touring work such as the hugely popular Digital This remarkable achievement reflects the Revolution exhibition to Stockholm and Athens and commitment of our artists and performers, artistic Juliette Binoche in Antigone around Europe and planners, support services and technical staff. the USA. We’ve also attracted an international audience to our programme at the Centre with We have been fortunate to attract some of the most tickets booked from 97 different countries. charismatic performers of our day: Juliette Binoche in the Barbican’s co-production of Antigone; Benedict Closer to home the Barbican and Guildhall School’s Cumberbatch in Sonia Friedman Productions’ staging creative learning programme continues to have of Hamlet; and Sir Simon Rattle with the Berliner a hugely positive impact in our neighbouring east Philharmoniker and the London Symphony Orchestra. London boroughs, while the City’s bold plans to These events were all broadcast, streamed, or transform the north-west of the Square Mile into relayed, reaching huge audiences nationwide and a globally renowned destination for the arts, abroad. Our commercial events spread the word heritage, learning and entertainment will further that the Barbican is a unique, amazing venue. enhance our overall offer. The ambitious plans we’re developing with our partners have the potential to With the imminent arrival of Crossrail to make deliver a thrilling future for this area of London that us more accessible than ever, and the prospect will benefit the whole of the capital and the UK. barbican.org.uk of the cultural hub in the City, the future could not be more exciting. Join us on the journey. John Tomlinson Chairman, Barbican Centre Board Sir Nicholas Kenyon 1 Forewords Managing Director, Barbican Centre 15 Arts without / boundaries The Barbican inspires people to discover and love the arts. We work Barbican 2014 Season Review with outstanding artists to create an innovative international programme that crosses art forms. We celebrate the artists of today and invest in those of tomorrow. © Nicholas Triantafyllou 2 Our vision Neighbouring Sounds, Brazil 2013 Dir Kleber Mendonça City Visions Beyond insightful, The City Visions film season heartbreaking and looked at how urban life and cities have been depicted in films. shocking. Thank you Screenings were complemented by a programme of talks and @BarbicanCentre debates about architecture, barbican.org.uk urban planning and globalisation for your amazing at a time when urban growth is at its most explosive. #cityvisions festival 3 September 2014 September @meikoderen 15 ‘(Director) Thomas Ostermeier involves the / audience to thrilling effect as Ibsen’s drama scales new heights of excitement and fascination’ Guardian HHHHH An Enemy of the People International Barbican 2014 Season Review Ibsen season Featuring leading companies from Australia, France and Germany, the International Ibsen Season brought together three productions from some of today’s most innovative international theatre directors who each reinterpreted Ibsen’s work as a pertinent mirror for our times. Schaubühne Berlin, An Enemy of the People © Arno Declair 2014 October 4 5 barbican.org.uk Inspiring people Boy Blue Entertainment, A Night with Boy Blue © Tristram Kenton Inspiring people to discover Membership 15 / and love the arts During the year, we made The year 2014/15 was a record significant improvements to 8,000 increase one for audiences at the Barbican our membership scheme, Centre. A total of 1.2 million while continuing to invest in the in Young Barbican membership people attended a Barbican event audiences of the future with our during the year, a rise of 27% fast-growing Young Barbican on 2013/14 and even surpassing membership. Young Barbican audience numbers during our offers up to 50,000 affordable 87% of UK cinemas record 2012 Olympic year. tickets to 14–25-year-olds every year, with the changes we’ve broadcast Hamlet live Hamlet made to the scheme leading Sonia Friedman Productions’ to an increase of 8,000 young Hamlet, starring Benedict people signed up as members. Barbican 2014 Season Review Cumberbatch, saw phenomenal 1.2 million attendances demand for tickets and Young people was one of the UK’s fastest- Our commitment to giving young selling theatre shows ever. people the chance to experience the arts was also reflected in the Demand for the show was truly Creative Learning manifesto, global. Bookings were received Helping Young People Find Their Barbican Ambassadors from 74 different countries and Creative Voice. This manifesto was Our Barbican Ambassadors the play was broadcast via NT launched to celebrate the fifth undertake targeted work across Live to 25 nations and 87% of UK anniversary of the Barbican and communities in east London, cinemas, making it the highest- Guildhall School’s joint Creative bringing new audiences to our grossing ‘event cinema’ opening Learning division. It included events both within the building of the year. The production ambitious pledges to enable young and beyond. Their work was also attracted a significant new people to access and experience complemented earlier this year by audience to the Centre, with arts events, explore their own a successful new programme of © Tristram Kenton © Tristram 56% of tickets being booked by creativity and develop the skills taster events and activities involving customers who had never bought required in a 21st-century economy. local communities and schools tickets to a Barbican event before. in the build up to the summer’s This investment in new audiences Walthamstow Garden Party and and participants is also reflected Barking Town Square Street Party. in our work with schools. Over the past year our Big Barbican A Night with Boy Blue A Night with Boy Workshop has given school groups the opportunity to spend a day exploring all the art forms on offer at the Barbican, while a new schools tour has been created to complement recent 6 Boy Blue Entertainment, Blue Entertainment, Boy Barbican Art Gallery exhibitions. Works by Bernd & Hilla Becher, Constructing Worlds © Chris Jackson/Getty Images ‘Apart from the elegance of Constructing Worlds: the concept, the work shown Photography and is terrific and well-chosen. Architecture in the There is a nice balance of styles, Modern Age attitudes and subjects’ Constructing Worlds explored the relationship between architecture and photography, bringing together Observer 250 images from eighteen leading international barbican.org.uk Constructing Worlds: Photography and photographers whose work has changed the way Architecture in the Modern Age we think about the world in which we live. Since premiering at the Barbican, Constructing Worlds has toured to Madrid for PhotoEspaña, where it was 7 November 2014 November voted the best exhibition in this international festival. 15 Just Jam / A partnership with online channel Just Jam saw the cutting-edge talents of the UK and international bass, house and grime music scene take over the Barbican Hall. Combining live music, dance and specially commissioned visual and audience interaction, the event recreated Just Jam’s distinctive atmosphere on a massive scale. Barbican 2014 Season Review ‘… a rare and welcome opportunity to get seriously grimey in a very grand setting’ Time Out Just Jam Novelist and Mumdance, Just Jam © Just Jam December 2014 December 8 9 barbican.org.uk An international, cross-arts programme reached 800,000 people toured outside the UKWork from different 97 nations Tickets booked Ninagawa Company, Kafka on the Shore © Takahiro Watanabe An international, Regular Barbican partner Global reach home, Magnificent Obsessions 15 / cross-arts programme Complicite curated this year’s Our international approach to travelled to the Sainsbury Centre The Barbican’s 2014/15 Barbican Theatre Box. This programming is reflected in the for Visual Arts in Norwich. programme saw us develop education project aims to ignite, diverse, global audience we our commitment to presenting support and facilitate creativity attract, with tickets booked from The Barbican’s co-production of the work of some of the world’s in schools through encouraging a total of 97 countries over the Antigone starring Juliette Binoche leading artists and companies. students to devise and create course of the year. The worldwide has played to sold-out audiences work from scratch based on items appeal of the Barbican’s offer across Europe (Amsterdam, Highlights of our international selected by acclaimed artists. helps to boost