Major new work by Somerset House Studios artist and Turner Prize winning multidisciplinary artist, Tai Shani.
The Spell or The Dream is a major new work by Turner Prize winner and Somerset House Studios artist Tai Shani bringing together sculpture, radio, live gatherings and a host of guest contributors to collectively dream of new horizons. This free, multi-faceted work has been commissioned in celebration of Somerset House’s 25th birthday and as part of Somerset House’s special year of artistic and social innovation, The Spell or The Dream is an invitation to challenge convention, consider alternative perspectives and understand the necessity of imagining new and hopeful ways of being and building together.
Drawing on the archetypal fairytale image of a sleeping figure in a glass box, Shani’s new sculptural work, The Spell, will invoke myths of cursed or enchanted sleeps that last a hundred years, a millennium, an eternity; poisoned apples and pricked fingers that lead to suspended states of animation. Under the seemingly unbreakable spell or curse of late capitalism, the figure sleeps through the warnings of present and future catastrophes, economic inequality, social breakdown, political disaster, and environmental collapse, dreaming out the violence of colonialism and its living legacies, the fairy tale of empire. Tai Shani, who is celebrated for her interdisciplinary practice crafting epic fantastical worlds through mythic narratives and histories of feminised aesthetics, creates this large-scale installation for one of London’s most admired public spaces, the Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court, at the heart of Somerset House.
The installation is accompanied by The Dream, a 24/7 radio broadcast co-curated by Shani. The online broadcast is an urgent call to wake from apathy and dream of radical new futures. It features contributions from artists, writers, thinkers, ecologists, economists, and academics including artist Cécile B Evans’, poet, musician and activist, Moor Mother (aka Camae Ayewan) and activist Cecilia Vicuña.
An accompanying programme of events will also take place over the duration of The Spell or The Dream, including themed discussions inspired by the format of the late-night live television show After Dark (1987-1991), a series of Friday Lates in the courtyard, and activities for all families during the summer weeks.
The Spell or The Dream: 7 August – 14 September 2025
Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA
Admission: FREE
Further Information: Tai Shani: The Spell or The Dream | Somerset House