Conservatory programme
A Bright Fire: Installation
All day
Pop by the conservatory and take in Jennifer Lewandowska's installation, specially envisaged for Beltane in the Barbican Conservatory.
This Spell Will Not Be Contained: Beltane Ritual of Creativity & Becoming (with High Priestess & Author Tree Carr)
12.15pm-1pm
As spring ignites into full bloom and the earth hums with fertile possibility, join Tree Carr — High Priestess, author, and guide through the unseen — for a Beltane ritual in the lush sanctuary of the Conservatory.
This Spell Will Not Be Contained is a ceremonial offering that honours the riotous blossoming of creativity, magic, art, imagination, and beauty. Step into this ritual of blooming where nature, intention, and the creative spirit converge. Together, we will cast a collective spell — not to bind or control, but to liberate the deep, untamed magic within us all. Through ritual, spoken word, and participatory spell-craft, we’ll awaken the seeds of becoming that stir beneath the surface — fertilising the soul’s soil for new visions to take root and thrive. This is not a passive gathering. This is a summoning. Of your voice. Your vision. Your bloom.
Come as you are. Leave a little more magical.
Spells with Silver Press
2.30pm-4pm
Join us to rebirth Spells: 21st-Century Occult Poetry with our magical community of poets, artists and dreamers. Falling just after Beltane, we will celebrate the new and expanded edition of the iconic collection during this time of renewal and abundance among the beautiful plants of the Conservatory.
Spells editors Rebecca Tamás and Sarah Shin are joined by contributors for readings, performances, spells and divination. bones tan jones and Flora Yin-Wong perform musical invocations and sonic rituals; Rose Nordin, Silver Press’ art director, divines in talismans and molybdomancy; and Livia Franchini, Amy Key, Rebecca May Johnson, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Lucy Mercer, Rebecca Perry, Nisha Ramayya, E Scourti and others read poems by themselves and others.
Spells: 21st-Century Occult Poetry is published in an exuberant new edition by Spiral House, a new imprint of Silver Press exploring art, poetry, transformation and ways of knowing in the book form and beyond.
Line-up:
Flora Yin Wong
bones tan jones
Lucy Mercer
Nisha Ramayya
Livia Franchini
Amy Key
Rebecca May Johnson
Rebecca Perry
Karen McCarthy Woolf
E Scourti
Rose Nordin
Tales from Ghostwood with Natasha Moody
4pm-5pm
Tales from Ghostwood is an experimental performance lecture by Natasha Viosna Moody. Using new works in glass and projections she conjures a story of transformation from the depths of South East London’s ancient woodland’s speculative mythologies.
A Bright Fire: Spoken Word and Sound Meditation
5pm-6pm
Jennifer Lewandowska will present A Bright Fire, a new spoken word and sound meditation in the Barbican Conservatory, accompanied by Euan Hinshelwood on saxophone and loop pedals. Connecting with the sensual and fertile energy of spring through affirmations and swells of sound, attuning to the passage of the sun and the power of fire and intention, as we move from the dark half of the year into the light.
