What We Do

About Henry Moore Institute

Experience, study and enjoy sculpture from around the world.

The Institute runs a varied programme of free exhibitions and events, and provides an invaluable sculpture resource for researchers, students and artists.

A three-story building with a black granite facade and steps leading up, with a leafy green tree to the left. Vinyl lettering on the building reads: Fragment and Form: Emii Alrai, Mónica Mays, Dominique White.

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History of the Institute

The Institute is a part of The Henry Moore Foundation, set up by the sculptor Henry Moore (1898-1986) in 1977 to encourage appreciation of the visual arts, especially sculpture.

Find out more about our history

Henry Moore laying the foundation stone outside Leeds City Art Gallery on 10 April 1980. Image courtesy of Yorkshire Post Newspapers.

Past exhibitions

The Institute hosts a varied programme of historical, modern and contemporary sculpture exhibitions.

SUNLIGHT: Roger Ackling

Fourteen everyday wooden objects, including a plug, chip fork, lolly stick, and a peg, are arranged in a line on a wall. They have all been 'decorated' with different patterns of black lines, burnt by the sun using a magnifying glass.

SUNLIGHT: Roger Ackling

4 April – 22 June 2025
Sculpture Galleries

SUNLIGHT: Roger Ackling is the first survey and most comprehensive exhibition of the work of artist Roger Ackling (1947-2014), one of the most quietly influential artists of the late twentieth century.

The Traumatic Surreal

A ceramic sculpture of a brown dog standing upright and staring to the right. Soft cream gauze bandage spills from its stomach and back.

The Traumatic Surreal

22 November 2024 – 16 March 2025
Sculpture Galleries

Marking the centenary of surrealism, this exhibition brings together work made after 1960 through to the present day to explore the radical appropriation and development of surrealist sculptural traditions by post-war women artists in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg.

Hany Armanious: Stone Soup

A sculpture of a table tennis on a stand which appears to be made from upright bottle corks

Hany Armanious: Stone Soup

12 July – 3 November 2024
Sculpture Galleries

Hany Armanious, one of Australia’s leading sculptors, playfully lays bare the fundamental decisions and processes of making and presenting sculpture.

Full exhibition history at Henry Moore Institute

Architectural design of the Henry Moore Institute

Construction work on Victoria Gardens and the newly built front entrance of the Henry Moore Institute, c. 1993

Architectural design

The design of the exterior of the Institute, facing Victoria Gardens on the Headrow, is tied to the history of this area of Leeds.

Learn more about our design

Leeds Sculpture Collections

Together, Leeds Art Gallery and Henry Moore Institute have built one of the strongest public collections of British sculpture in the UK.

The collection is on display next door to us in Leeds Art Gallery, where the Institute curates the sculpture displays.

We also oversee the administration and development of the collection on behalf of Leeds Museums and Galleries.

Find out more about the partnership

Leeds Sculpture Collection

Relief sculpture of a praying cherub, with the inscription 'In thy light shall we see light' next to them.

Visit us

We welcome everyone to visit our galleries, research library & archive to find out more about historical and contemporary sculpture from around the world.