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Encounters: Giacometti

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A black and white photo of Alberto Giacometti in his studio holding his sculpture, Three Men Walking.

Three groundbreaking exhibitions position historic sculptures by Alberto Giacometti with new works by contemporary artists, in an intimate new space.

One of the most significant European sculptors of the 20th century, Giacometti is known for his distinctive, elongated sculptures which experiment with the human form. Responding to the pain and devastation caused by the Second World War, his works proposed a new perspective on humanity and the collective psyche.

Organised in collaboration with the Fondation Giacometti, this year-long series launches in May with an exhibition of works by Huma Bhabha, followed by Mona Hatoum in September and Lynda Benglis in February 2026. Their artworks resonate with and respond to Giacometti’s sculptures, opening up new intergenerational dialogues through the timeless themes of death, fragmentation, the domestic, memory, trauma, the erotic, horror and humour. This is the first time that their sculptures will be seen alongside Giacometti’s works.

Co-organised by the Barbican and the Fondation Giacometti
In partnership with the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi

The Encounters: Giacometti series is generously supported by Blanca and Sunil Hirani, Cockayne Grants for the Arts, a Donor Advised Fund held at The Prism Charitable Trust, and Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne, with additional support from the Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation.

The words Fondation-Giacometti in black, all caps text. Underneath is a rectangular graphic depicting an form resembling the Walking Man sculpture.
Kiran Nadar Museum of Art - logo April 2025
Cockayne
The Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne Logo. On the left, the words Art Mentor are in a bold, black font. To the right, Foundation Lucerne is in a lighter font.

Exhibitions

Artist biographies

Huma Bhabha standing in a studio with two tall sculptures, one carved out and one with markings ready to be carved.

Huma Bhabha

Huma Bhabha creates nuanced, formally inventive sculptures, drawings, and photographs that reinvent the figure and its expressive possibilities.

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Mona Hatoum sitting on a radiator on the wall of her studio. On the wall next to her is Untitled (Bed Springs), one of her lithograph print depicting a structure made of bed springs, curved and crumpled.

Mona Hatoum

Mona Hatoum's work deals with issues of displacement, marginalisation, exclusion and systems of social and political control.

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Lynda Benglis standing next to one her sculpture titled Ghost Dance/Pedmarks. It is a large, gold, torso-like form hanging on a white wall.

Lynda Benglis

Since the 1960s, Lynda Benglis has been celebrated for the free, ecstatic forms she has made that are simultaneously playful and visceral, organic and abstract. 

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L: Alberto Giacometti holding Three Men Walking, 1940s, Photo: anonymous, Archives Fondation Giacometti / R: Alberto Giacometti in the studio, Before June 1951, Archives Fondation Giacometti © Succession Alberto Giacometti / Adagp, Paris 2024. Photo: Michel Sima.

Alberto Giacometti

Alberto Giacometti is one of the most significant European sculptors of the 20th century. He is known for his distinctive, elongated sculptures which experiment with the human form. 

Find out more