LONDON.- Turner Prize winner and Somerset House Studios artist Tai Shani presents The Spell or The Dream, a major free commission as part of Somerset House’s 25th birthday celebrations in its spectacular courtyard this summer. Centered around a striking new sculpture for the Edmond J Safra Fountain Court, this multifaceted work includes a 24/7 radio broadcast, live talks and performances, and an extensive family programme over the summer holidays, inviting a host of guest contributors to collectively dream of possible futures.
Supported by Art Fund, The Spell is a magnificent 10m x 3m sculpture drawing on the archetypal fairytale image of a sleeping figure in a glass box, featuring a newly commissioned soundscape by composer, producer and double bassist Maxwell Sterling. Resting atop a stepped plinth, where visitors can sit, gather or peer inside, the figure is animated by subtle movement. The luminous blue figure is hand painted and gently breathes, eyes partially open, at the cusp of waking from this cursed slumber. Under a spell invoking myths of cursed or enchanted sleeps that last a hundred years, a millennium, an eternity, the figure has been sleeping through warnings of present and future catastrophes, the violence of colonialism and its living legacies, economic inequality, social breakdown, political disaster, and environmental collapse. But the figure also dreams of resistance against the fairytale of empire—of renewal and new imaginaries. It invites a communal, intergenerational intervention to imagine, wonder, and dream alongside it.
For the duration of the installation, The Dream radio invites guest contributors and audiences to reimagine new and hopeful ways of being, collectively. Co-curated by Shani and broadcast globally via Channel, the radio features brand new commissions and contributions, alongside archival work, by an extensive list of artists, writers, musicians, academics, economists, activists and thinkers, exploring dreaming as a radical act of imagination. Audiences can tune in online or listen on-site in the Seamen’s Hall and will be invited to submit their dreams for interpretation and broadcast on the radio.
Lead commissions for The Dream radio broadcast include artist Cécile B Evans’ new radio adaptation of French surrealist Antonin Artaud’s play ‘A Spurt of Blood’; poet, musician and activist, Moor Mother’s (aka Camae Ayewa) piece for radio which draws inspiration from the Old Testament to address ideas of ancestry and time; and a new experimental sound piece responding to the ancient Popol Vuh: the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life, by visual artist, poet, and activist Cecilia Vicuña, with ongoing collaborators Ricardo Gallo, Satoshi Takeishi and Daniel Neumann.
Newly commissioned contributions to The Dream radio include:
• Anne Boyer, Mykki Blanco, Eileen Myles, Maxine Peake, Jay Bernard, Max Porter, Tanya Taqag, Yanis Varoufakis on dreaming alternative futures.
• Mark Leckey on medieval metaphysics and obsolescence.
• Aura Satz reimagining the siren in an age of permanent emergency.
• Brian Eno on dreaming for the future.
• Mo’min Swaitat (Palestinian Sound Archive) on dreaming through archives and grief.
• Jason Hickel, an economic anthropologist will be in conversation with Jayati Ghosh about dreaming beyond capitalism.
• IONE and Sarah Shin on quantum dreaming.
• Hannah Proctor and Micha Frazer-Carroll on the radical politics of mental health.
• Vanessa Andreotti, Jayati Ghosh and Lola Olufemi in conversation with guests on world-building beyond capitalism.
Also featured are archival radio plays, audiobooks and broadcasts from XMTR, Montez Radio and Radiophrenia, music playlists curated by Duval Timothy, Ohal Greitzer and Sarathy Korwar, and new contributions from Somerset House Studios artists including Felicita, Sophia Al Maria and Elaine Mitchener. Additional contributors include K Allado-McDowell, Basyma Saad, Juliet Jacques, Johanna Hedva, Roy Claire Potter, Hannah Black & Bonaventure, Adelita Husni-Bey, American Artist, Gunseli Yalcinkaya, Suzanne Treister, Zadie Xa, and more. A detailed schedule will be announced in July.
An accompanying programme of events unfolds at Somerset House throughout The Spell or The Dream, offering audiences a space to reflect, gather, and reimagine. At the heart of the programme is After Illusions—a series of three live conversations inspired by the pioneering late-night television show After Dark (1987–1991). Each session brings together voices from across disciplines to explore different topics in the wake of fractured systems, including law, democracy, and capitalism, and asks what might come next. Hosted by broadcaster and academic Dalia Gebrial, discussions focus on the themes of Power and Deception, Invisible Systems and Habitable Futures. All conversations will be streamed live on The Dream radio in front of an audience.
Two special Friday Late events, titled Hypnopompic Hallucinations, will animate the Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court. Taking inspiration from dreamlike experiences that occur while waking from deep sleep, the evenings will feature takeovers by radio stations Sister Midnight and Resonance FM and live music performances.
A programme of family-friendly activities will also run throughout August, inviting younger audiences to explore themes of dreaming, storytelling, and sound through creative workshops and drop-in sessions.
To coincide with The Spell or The Dream, Tai Shani has created a newly designed flag that will fly above Seamen’s Hall for the duration that the installation is on site.
Following its debut at Somerset House, The Spell or The Dream will tour to Jupiter Artland, outside Edinburgh, where the sculptural installation will be presented in the sculpture park's Orchard from 10 October 2025 to 27 September 2026. The original commission and touring presentation have been made possible with support from the Art Fund.
Curated by Somerset House Studios Director Marie McPartlin and independent researcher, curator, and writer Rahila Haque. The Dream radio is executive produced by Alannah Chance.
