Join us for a special evening to celebrate Lina Iris Viktor’s exhibition Mythic Time/ Tens of Thousands of Rememberings and the launch of the exhibition book.

The evening includes short talks on works in the exhibition by Lina Iris Viktor and exhibition curator Dr Louise Stewart and readings of author and journalist Ekow Eshun and poet Ben Okri’s contributions to the publication. Ekow will share his essay for the book at the Museum, while a new work by Ben Okri in response to the exhibition will be read by actors. Guests will have the opportunity to view the Museum and Lina Iris Viktor’s work by candlelight, to enjoy a glass of wine in Soane’s drawing room and to purchase limited edition signed copies of the book and exhibition print.

About the speakers

Lina Iris Viktor

Lina Iris Viktor is a Liberian-British multidisciplinary artist who lives and works between Italy and the UK. Working across media, Viktor’s art is a synthesis of painting, sculpture, performance, photography and water gilding with 24- carat gold. Viktor received her BA in film at Sarah Lawrence College and studied photography as continuing education at The School of Visual Arts, in New York. Her work has been the subject of exhibitions at the Fotografiska Museum of Photography, Stockholm & Tallinn (2020); Autograph, London (2019); and New Orleans Museum of Art (2018), among others. She has been included in group exhibitions at institutions including the Hayward Gallery, London (2022); North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh (2020); Somerset House, London (2019); Ford Foundation, New York (2019); Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento (2018); Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville (2016); Spelman Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta (2016); and Cooper Gallery, Harvard University, Cambridge (2016).

Louise Stewart

Louise Stewart is a curator, writer and art-historian. As Head of Exhibitions at Sir John Soane’s Museum, she has oversight of an inspiring programme of historic and contemporary exhibitions. She has worked closely with artists and designers including Lina Iris Viktor, Pablo Bronstein, Bouke de Vries, Nayan Kulkarni and Grafton Architects.

Ekow Eshun

Described by Vogue as ‘the most inspired - and inspiring - curator in Britain’, Ekow Eshun is  Chairman of the Fourth Plinth, overseeing Britain’s foremost public art programme, and the author of books including The Strangers and Black Gold of the Sun, shortlisted for the Orwell prize.

Ben Okri

Ben Okri is a poet, novelist, short story writer, essayist, aphorist, playwright, writer of film-scripts and cultural activist. His writing challenges perceptions of reality. He won the Booker Prize in 1991 and was knighted in 2023 for services to Literature.

Image (banner): An installation view of the Crypt at the Museum, with Nbiru (2024) by Lina Iris Viktor. Photograph by Gareth Gardner.