We're delighted to introduce Mythic Time / Tens of Thousands of Rememberings, a collaborative exhibition between artist Lina Iris Viktor and the Museum, which is on display until January 2024.

Viktor’s work unearths connections across time and cultures, from ancient Egypt to medieval illumination and indigenous Australian art. In bringing together these connections, she mirrors Soane’s own eclectic approach to collecting objects from varied cultures and time periods. Viktor’s sculptural works, made especially for this exhibition, are interspersed throughout the Museum, introducing new presences and memories into Soane’s former home.

Spanning sculpture, painting, photography and gilding, Viktor’s practice explores the complexities of time, memory and historic traditions. Both her sculptural works and paintings employ ancient, elemental materials, from bronze and ceramic to wood and silk, drawing on their primal, timeless qualities, as well as their formal characteristics.

The fusion of motifs, materials and fragments of time across Viktor’s work and the Soane collection imbues the Museum with new layers of memory, immersing audiences in a Mythic Time of Viktor’s own creation.

A limited edition exhibition publication is available now, published by Sir John Soane’s Museum and including contributions by Ekow Eshun, Ben Okri and exhibition curator Louise Stewart.

Visiting the Museum? Listen to Lina's guide to the spectacular arrangement of works in the Foyle Space.

An eight-legged chair gilded with gold leaf, positioned in the Crypt of the Museum in relation to a nineteenth century garden chair. The exhibition gallery at the Museum, centered around an abstract white ceramic sculpture on a golden pedestal. In the Crypt of the Museum, an abstract figure sculpture is positioned between two casts of Venus. The Foyle Space at the Musuem, home to three of Lina Iris Viktor's extraordinary black-gold 'Constellations' series, and a new sculpture in wood and gilded rope. A white cermaic vessel on a golden stool is positioned in the window of the South Drawing Room. A detail of a sculpture in the Crypt.

Mythic Time / Tens of Thousands of Rememberings follows Lina Iris Viktor’s debut solo show at Pilar Corrias, London, which opened on 5 June.

Image (middle): Constellations X, by Lina Iris Viktor.

Image (banner): the Foyle Space at the Museum, featuring four works from the exhibition. Photo by Gareth Gardner.

Exhibition events

11 July | An evening at the Museum with Lina Iris Viktor in conversation with Renée Mussai | £15, book now

31 July | Golden Crafts Mythic Time workshop, for ages 7 - 11 | £8, book now

8 August | Signs and Symbols family drop-in workshop | free to attend, information

27 September | Soane Late: Spotlight on Lina Iris Viktor | £25, book now

9 October | Mythic Time book launch and celebration | £15, book now

11 October | Artist-led Tour of Mythic Time / Hundreds of Thousands of Rememberings | free, booking essential 

12 October | British Sign Language tour of the exhibition | free to attend, booking essential

30 October | Mythic Time half term creative workshop for ages 11 - 14 | £6, book