Set in the neoclassical architectural marvel that is Camden Town Hall – founded in 1937 as St Pancras Town Hall – Town Hall is a new cultural hub in King’s Cross. Eight years in the making, it finally opens this week, bringing together an array of disciplines, from art and music to theatre, fashion, dance and more.
Technically, when Broadsheet visits, no one is allowed in yet unless they’re connected with the launch installation: the 13th iteration of Prada Mode, created in collaboration with artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset and opening to the public as part of Frieze London on October 17. But chief curator and visual arts director Virginia Damtsa isn’t letting that stop her. “I shouldn’t really be doing this,” she tells Broadsheet. “But you just have to see the space.”
She’s right; it is impressive. First, there’s the Vision Hall, with its soaring 13-metre-high ceiling and vast arched windows. Right now, it is hosting Prada Mode’s centrepiece installation, The Audience, in which a giant screen plays a blurry, looped scene before an audience of eerily lifelike human sculptures. Downstairs, there’s the Inner Space, designed by British interior designer Tom Dixon. “This will be the main exhibition space,” says Damtsa, as she points out Dixon’s curved silver staircase and marble columns. Elsewhere, there’s original dark wood panelling, terrazzo flooring and brass fixtures, melding the building’s heritage with modern touches.
“That’s one of the things that first drew me to this project – that it combines the old and the new,” Damtsa explains. “The programming here is all about bringing together the past, the present and the future.” Greek by birth but raised in Paris before moving to London at age 16, Damtsa has been at the forefront of the capital’s contemporary art scene for three decades. Having opened her first gallery in Kensington when she was just 18, she’s now best known as the co-founder of Soho’s Riflemaker gallery, where she staged radical exhibitions with artists such as Yoko Ono, Judy Chicago and Gavin Turk. She also collaborated with Peter Gabriel on the visual art for his acclaimed 2023 release i/o, with contributions from Ai Weiwei, Nick Cave and Cornelia Parker.
At Town Hall she’s adopted an inventive cross-disciplinary approach to programming – talks from world-renowned artists will run alongside discussions on the future of AI – and will stage four major exhibitions a year. The first, Her Stories Untold, will be held in January. It celebrates women’s resilience, with Jonathan Yeo’s portraits of Malala Yousafzai and Lily Cole as Helen of Troy displayed alongside works by Poppy De Havilland, Rebecca Fontaine-Wolf and Wen Wu. The next major exhibition, Silenced, will focus on oppression in society. “I want the shows at Town Hall to reflect the most important issues of today,” says Damtsa.
She insists there’s nowhere else like Town Hall in London. “If you go to a gallery, you see paintings on the wall. You go to Koko, you see live music. But here, we’re merging so many fields. Visual art, literature, fashion, community, technology, science, theatre, dance – it’s all under one roof. And that’s what makes it so special.”
Town Hall is open to the public from Friday October 17.
