Encounters series at the Barbican: a groundbreaking collaboration with Fondation Giacometti
The Barbican Centre has launched an ambitious new exhibition series, Encounters: Giacometti, in partnership with the Fondation Giacometti, Paris. Running from May 2025 to May 2026, this year-long programme brings the work of sculptor Alberto Giacometti into dialogue with three leading contemporary artists, Huma Bhabha, Mona Hatoum, and Lynda Benglis, offering audiences a fresh reimagining of Giacometti’s influence and relevance today.
The series unfolds in a specially created intimate exhibition space within the Barbican, where each artist presents a distinctive dialogue with Giacometti’s historic sculptures. The exhibitions showcase both pre-existing and new artworks by the contemporary artists, many created in direct response to Giacometti’s iconic pieces such as The Walking Man I (1960) and The Cage (1950).
The overarching theme of Encounters is the exploration of profound human experiences, death, trauma, memory, and resilience, that resonate across generations, linking Giacometti’s post-war reflections on humanity with the contemporary artists’ evocative and often visceral practices.
Encounters: Giacometti x Huma Bhabha
Huma Bhabha, 2022. Image credit: Photo by Daniel Dorsa. Courtesy David Zwirner
#FLODown: The first exhibition in the series introduces Huma Bhabha, a contemporary sculptor whose work often explores themes of human fragility, memory, and survival. Bhabha’s sculptures, which combine elements of figuration and abstraction, are presented alongside key works by Alberto Giacometti, offering a new perspective on the human form. Central to the show is a specially commissioned iron sculpture by Bhabha, created in dialogue with Giacometti’s elongated figures. In addition, four large bronze sculptures by Bhabha are displayed in the Barbican’s public foyer, marking their first appearance in Europe. This exhibition encourages visitors to consider how ideas of trauma and resilience are expressed through sculpture, across different time periods and cultural contexts.
Date: 8 May – 10 August 2025. Book here
Encounters: Giacometti x Mona Hatoum
Portrait of Mona Hatoum, London Studio 2019
#FLODown: The second exhibition features Mona Hatoum, an artist whose work frequently addresses themes of displacement, political conflict, and the experience of home. Hatoum’s practice spans sculpture, installation, video, and works on paper, many of which transform familiar domestic objects into unsettling and thought-provoking forms. In this exhibition, her works will be shown alongside selected sculptures by Giacometti, creating a conversation between their approaches to the human condition and trauma. Large-scale sculptures by Hatoum will also be displayed in the Barbican’s public foyer. Visitors can expect to engage with ideas of vulnerability and alienation, as well as the ways both artists reflect on the impact of violence and loss.
Date: 3 September 2025 – 11 January 2026. barbican.org.uk
Encounters: Giacometti x Lynda Benglis
Lynda Benglis © Jonathan Pow. Image credit: © The Japan Art Association The Sankei Shimbun (Photo by Mizuho Miyazak.
#FLODown: The concluding exhibition presents the work of Lynda Benglis, an artist known for her experimental and often organic forms created since the 1960s. Benglis’s sculptures challenge traditional ideas of shape and materiality, using abstract and tactile approaches that both contrast with and connect to Giacometti’s distinct elongated figures. This exhibition will feature a selection of previously unseen works by Benglis, alongside her curated choice of Giacometti’s sculptures. The pairing highlights a cross-generational dialogue exploring the body, form, and presence in space.
Date: 12 February – 31 May 2026. barbican.org.uk.
The Barbican’s collaboration with Fondation Giacometti, Paris, will run from May 2025 to May 2026. Ticket prices start from £8, plus a £1.50 booking fee. Tickets are not yet on sale for the Mona Hatoum and Lynda Benglis exhibitions.
Location: Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS. Click here to stay up to date on when tickets become available.
