Bloomsbury and British Museum - Enlightenment tour
A recent visit to Bloomsbury reminded me once again how curiosity can take you deep into the layers of London’s 18th Century enlightenment history—only to propel you straight into the city’s freshest contemporary art scene.
CONDO, Swedenborg House and Canopy Collections
Our visit included CONDO: an artistic exchange between galleries: Phillida Reid, where very eloquent Chloe Carroll, Director of the gallery, introduced us to the exhibition co-hosted with Los Angeles gallery Ehrlich Steinberg, and presenting works by Lea Cetera, Prem Sahib, Edward Thomasson, as well as a duo work by TJ Shin and Abbas Zahedi.
Swedenborg House: the polymath Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) continues to fascinate from his scientific findings to his philosophy and literature. He was once described by Jorge Luis Borges as “the most extraordinary man in recorded history,” We explored Hereafter, an exhibition curated by Simon Moretti (b. 1978), inspired by the mystical visions. His writings—particularly Heaven and Hell — have influenced artists from William Blake to Goshka Macuga. Moretti himself presents neon works alongside historical and contemporary artists including Derek Jarman, Ithell Colquhoun (note: show by this surrealist painter will later this year at the Tate Britain) and Ben Rivers.
Canopy Collections hosted “Sculptures, 2014–2024,” the first exhibition to span ten years of Cobbing’s sculptural practice. Cobbing is also showing currently his new commission for The Art Block at Selfridges London (on view until October 2025). William Cobbing, born in 1974 in the UK, is a London-based artist whose practice is rooted in sculpture and extends to video, performance, and installation. Clay serves as a central material in his work, both in its raw and fired forms, with entropy being a key concept.
At the British Museum
One of my favorite spaces at the British Museum is the Enlightenment Gallery. Originally housing George I’s library and enriched by Sir Hans Sloane’s vast artefact collections, it reflects an era of European curiosity, though one undeniably shaped by colonial perspectives. While today’s art world wrestles with questions of ethical collecting, it’s worth also asking: which of today’s commercial art collectors are acquiring works will still matter centuries from now? Upstairs, in rooms 42-43, we found a powerful display of the Afghan war rugs. The Exhition: War Rugs: Afghanistan’s Knotted History explores how traditional Afghan weavers began incorporating motifs of modern warfare—Kalashnikovs, grenades, helicopters—into their carpets after the Soviet invasion in 1979. These extraordinary textiles document decades of conflict, evolving alongside Afghanistan’s shifting political landscape. One lesser known side of the story is the Italian artist Alighiero e Boetti was the instigator of the contemporary Afghan rug phenomenon: he went to Afghanistan to commission the rug makers to produce illustrations of the Arab-Istraeli Six-Day War in 1967! As we moved between Bloomsbury’s vibrant contemporary art scene and its historic foundations, the day underscored how art become so relevant as dialogues with the past. Also not to miss if you have the chance is the Hew Locke exhibition currently at the British Museum and extending the theme introduced here.
With thanks to:
Phillida Reid, Chloe (Director)
Lolita, James and Anya (Swedenborg House)
Danielle and Louise (Canopy Collections)
British Museum
Artists featuring on these pictures include:
William Cobbing (Canopy Collections), Simon Moretti (Swedenborg House), William Blake (Swedenborg House), The unnamed women who made the Afghan rugs (British Museum), Hew Locke (British Museum)