Exhibition
Phantasmagoria: Folkloric Sculpture for the Digital Age
Henry Moore Institute, Leeds
Free Entry
Free Entry
About the exhibition
Phantasmagoria: Folkloric Sculpture for the Digital Age brings together artists working across sculpture, moving image, performance, video games and installation to explore how digital technology is reshaping culture today.
The exhibition features new and recent work by Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, Nina Davies, Joey Holder, Most Dismal Swamp and Isaac Lythgoe. Many of these artists blend elements of folklore with speculative fiction, reworking communal myths and storytelling traditions through processes ranging from AI manipulation to 3D printing.
In recent years, folktales, ancient customs and occult practices have re-entered the cultural spotlight, often as ways of reconnecting with land, history and community. At the same time, AI, gaming and social media are rapidly altering how we imagine ourselves and our futures.
Phantasmagoria confronts this collision. It explores how screens can become sculptural portals through the platform-mediated crisis of contemporary society, and as traditional definitions of sculptural practice are shattered by digital experimentation, the exhibition reveals how material form still grounds even the most intangible myths of the present.
By fusing the digital and the folkloric, the artists included turn to science fiction, online subcultures, post-human ecologies and the aesthetics of the glitch to question how belief systems – both ancient and algorithmic – shape our lives.
Access information
Step-free access
Our accessible entrance is on Cookridge Street, with a lift (doors 100cm wide) bringing you onto the ground floor of the building. There…
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Step-free access
Our accessible entrance is on Cookridge Street, with a lift (doors 100cm wide) bringing you onto the ground floor of the building.
There is an internal passenger lift (doors 72cm wide) to all floors of the building.
Braille & large print
Braille and large print versions of descriptive text about our exhibitions are available at the welcome desk.
Audio guide
We produce audio guides with descriptions of the artworks in our exhibitions. Due to some exhibitions having many artworks, we can’t guarantee that…
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Audio guide
We produce audio guides with descriptions of the artworks in our exhibitions. Due to some exhibitions having many artworks, we can’t guarantee that there will be audio descriptions for all the works on display.
You can pick up a handheld audio player and headphones outside the sculpture galleries, or use your own device by scanning the QR codes next to the artworks.
Induction loops
There are induction loops at the welcome desk on the ground floor, library reception and in the seminar room. There is a portable…
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Induction loops
There are induction loops at the welcome desk on the ground floor, library reception and in the seminar room.
There is a portable induction loop available for visitors to use in the galleries (please ask at the welcome desk).
Seating
Seating is always available in our shop and welcome area. You can also pick up a portable seat here to take with you…
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Seating
Seating is always available in our shop and welcome area. You can also pick up a portable seat here to take with you in the galleries.
While we try to always include seating in our exhibition spaces, due to the changing nature of our exhibitions we cannot always guarantee this.
Quiet space
There is a quiet space available in a room off from The Studio on the second floor of the building. Please ask a…
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Quiet space
There is a quiet space available in a room off from The Studio on the second floor of the building. Please ask a member of staff if you would like to use this space at any time during your visit.
Quiet times to visit
If you’d prefer a quieter, more relaxed visit, then we recommend visiting on a Tuesday between 10:00 and 12:00. Occasionally we have school…
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Quiet times to visit
If you’d prefer a quieter, more relaxed visit, then we recommend visiting on a Tuesday between 10:00 and 12:00.
Occasionally we have school groups booked to visit then, so feel free to contact us beforehand to check if that is the case when you are planning to visit.
T: 01132 467 467
E: institute@henry-moore.org
Toilets
Outside the seminar room on the basement level we have three gender-neutral superloos (self-contained cubicles with a toilet and sink). Additionally, there is…
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Toilets
Outside the seminar room on the basement level we have three gender-neutral superloos (self-contained cubicles with a toilet and sink).
Additionally, there is one gender-neutral, accessible superloo, and one superloo with baby changing facilities.
The closest Changing Places toilet is located in Leeds City Museum, which is approximately a 350m walk from us over a mostly flat and pedestrianised route, with one pelican crossing. See here for Leeds City Museum opening times and contact details.
Guide dogs
Guide dogs, hearing dogs and other badged assistance dogs are welcome in our galleries and at our events. There is a small grassy…
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Guide dogs
Guide dogs, hearing dogs and other badged assistance dogs are welcome in our galleries and at our events.
There is a small grassy area just outside the Institute, suitable for spending. The nearest larger green space is Park Square.
A water bowl for dogs is available, please ask a member of staff at the welcome desk who will fetch it for you.
If you would like to talk to us about any access concerns before your visit, you can email us at institute@henry-moore.org, or call us on 01132 467 467.
Getting here
Henry Moore Institute
74 The Headrow
Leeds
LS1 3AH
United Kingdom
T: 01132 467 467
E: institute@henry-moore.org
