35 Years of Firsts

The Barbican has always been an innovative, international organisation, pushing the boundaries of art forms and welcoming the finest artists from across the world.
It’s difficult to overstate the scale of ambition and vision required to plan and build the Centre in the first place, particularly in the context of the devastation brought about in London during the Second World War.

This boldness in the initial planning and building of the Barbican feels like it has been at the forefront of the minds of all who have led the Centre, challenging us to create work that takes risks, that innovates and that is genuinely new.

These 35 'firsts', chosen from so many over the 35 years of our programme, show how the Barbican has always been pushing the art-forms forwards – and how we continue to do so today.

From Richard Mosse's Incoming to Jean-Michel Basquiat, Simon Rattle and the LSO, Toneelgroep and Jude Law, we aim to continue celebrating the very best adventurous, distinctive work in the arts to build on our remarkable sustained history made possible by the generosity of our founder and principal funder the City of London Corporation.

How the Barbican has evolved and changed over the last three and a half decades is clear from the events featured here, as the Centre gradually carved out a distinctive identity for itself in the capital’s arts scene.

This identity will, I’m sure, continue to alter and shift over the coming decades as we respond to the constantly changing way the arts are created and experienced. What will remain though is the Barbican’s international focus.

We sit at the heart of a centre for international trade as part of one of the world’s great international capitals and our global outlook has been a principal part of the Centre’s mission since its inception.

I first became aware of the power of art when I was 5. A recorder was put in my hand when I was a pupil at a regular Welsh Language state primary school. It felt like I’d been given the key to something, and I was hooked from the get go. I couldn’t get enough, and began listening with intent, collecting music books, buying cassettes and records.

Mississippi John Hurt was my guide, and Bob Dylan my map.

Through music I learned about foreign affairs, Native American Indians, the Irish famine, the Chilean coup; civil rights issues, questions of faith, identity, injustice, politics and history...

There I was, a white, Welsh child, making sense of the world from the confines of a Swansea bedroom. I realised then that art was a special kind of key which allowed me to cross borders, collect information, and respond.

I began writing songs, and that was that, in my mind, like many, I'd found a way of making the most of this miracle of life. The power of art as enlightener has been a constant for generations, but the way we devour it is constantly shifting.

I grew up in a time (and place) where film fans went to the cinema, music fans went to record shops and installations probably meant something to do with British Gas.

Ballet, theatre, art all had their own temples of worship. We knew where we had to go to find them.

Roll on a few a decades, through the boom and bust of video, the demise then rise of vinyl, to today, where we find coffee, coffee, coffee fuelling our obsession with the virtual world, now accessible wherever we Iive, and pretty much all of the time.

Gadget handy, we can be 24/7 processing, questioning, and responding (mostly to email, I know) pretty much on any topic... But hey, here’s where it gets interesting...

As a yin to the yang, (every action has an equal and opposite reaction after all), we can witness, in EC2, the coming of age of its terrestrial mirror image - a beautiful, all encompassing, all exploring physical manifestation of this kind of boundary-less reference library that we’ve fallen in love with.

Yes, I'm talking about the Barbican: this wondrous, instigating, agitating, inspiring, multi-platform building.

I first went in the late 80’s, an 18 year old student nurse wanting to know the secrets of Flamenco. I remember being shocked by the concrete, 30 years later I return again and again.

The stark edges seem perfect in 2017, softened with a few trailing ivies from the balconies, and the buzz of ideas. I recognise there a sense of a utopian future in the present...

It still offers a cornucopia of artistic projects. You might, for instance, first go in as a theatre fan but you’re exposed to such a variety of offerings so that curiosity never fails to be piqued. You enter with dance tickets, come out with a painting under your arm...

Recently I enjoyed more Roma music, this time a battle of the brass bands with Boban y Marko Markovic playing against Mexico’s Banda Estrellas de Sinaloa de German Lizgarra, surprising collaborations helping to make sense of this ever changing world.

Next time you’ve got an urge to explore, grab your coffee and enter, the door is open, and it might give you the key to something too.

Happy 35th birthday, Barbican.
Cerys Matthews

'The Barbican encompasses so much of what is great about London – it’s bold, international, innovative and outward looking.

Whether bringing the best of the world’s arts to our doorstep or taking its programme to communities in its neighbouring boroughs, for the past 35 years the Barbican has played a huge role in ensuring London is a world leader in arts and culture.'

'The Barbican Centre is an internationally renowned multi-arts and conference venue, a major player in the Square Mile’s vibrant cultural hub, and a prime example of radical post-war architecture.

I am thrilled to be celebrating its 35th anniversary and I send my warmest congratulations.

Over the years, the Barbican has gained an outstanding reputation for its outreach work and ability to attract world-class performers, and with Sir Nicholas Kenyon and his superb team at the helm, its diverse and loyal audiences are in the hands of people who take pride in commissioning and delivering excellent work.'