Opera as the World witnesses the encounter between the visual arts and opera in the 20th and 21st centuries. Beyond the straightforward presentation of opera sets created by artists, the exhibition aims to shed new light on the resonance, and tensions, between opera and the Wagnerian legacy of the Gesamtkunstwerk (Total work of art concept) (“total artform”), exploring how the visual arts and lyric theatre have enriched one another and, at times, become sources of mutual, radical influence and inspiration. In this two-way relationship, opera is a fertile ground for experiment and the fomenting of new aesthetic and political sensibilities.

Through set designs and costumes, scenographic elements, large-scale installations and new works, Opera as the World combines sound and vision to showcase opera’s role as both a workshop for shared artistic aims and aspirations, and the embodiment of creative freedom. The exhibition charts alternative territory in our exploration of interdisciplinarity in art, from the experimental sets of early avant-garde productions such as Arnold Schoenberg’s Die glückliche Hand (“The Hand of Fate”, 1910-13), to scores that have become latterday repertory classics, such as Olivier Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise, and more experimental, uber-iconic works such as Philip Glass and Bob Wilson’s Einstein on the Beach (1976).

View the exhibition from
June 22, 2019 - January 27, 2020
until October 31: Mon, Wed, Thur 10am–6pm, Fri, Sat, Sun 10am–7pm (closed on Tuesdays) / from November 1: 10am–6pm (closed on Tuesdays)

More information and tickets here.