I’ve always loved the fact that the Sainsbury Centre, just outside of Norwich, builds its exhibition programme around major questions that everyone can relate to: How do we find love? Can the seas survive us? Why do we take drugs?
The latest big question is: What is the meaning of life? Arguably, the biggest question they’ve taken on yet, and in keeping with previous topics, the exhibitions are opening the door to make us ask the question of ourselves, rather than guiding us towards specific answers.
As you enter the museum, your eyes are drawn to your right to a colourful, towering textile tree titled Tree of Life by Seyi Adelekun. It’s woven from fabric, with a hollowed-out centre so we can sit and lie inside it. It speaks to me that we’re now disconnected from nature, and very few of us spend time in it, even though forest bathing has been proven to improve our well-being.
The woven structure also speaks of female labour and how its lack of recognition is also tied to the destruction of the natural world in eco-feminist theories. While I started my journey here, it’s the perfect reflection space to visit after seeing all the exhibitions and reflecting on everything we’ve seen.
I head upstairs for the main reason I’m here: the Joy Like Time exhibition that features works by three well-known female artists. It starts with Gillian Wearing’s project, in which people hold up signs reflecting how they’re feeling. It’s a series from the 90s, and it’s interesting to see how they’ve all aged. The man holding a sign that proclaims ‘the political situation in England is stable’ makes me want to go back to the 90s if that really was the case.
The businessman who wrote ‘I’m desperate’ and another sign stating ‘my grip on life is rather loose’ feel just as relevant today. Worryingly, the sign that reads ‘Will Britain get through this recession?’ has me wondering: did we ever? It’s a phenomenal work to revisit, and it has me wanting it to be rerun in contemporary British society.
At the other end of the gallery is Kalliopi Lemos’ ritual garments arranged in a format that encourages visitors to walk around them and explore, while brushing past plants in the space. The plants also act as a nod to Adelekun’s tree at the other end of the centre. Having all the garments represent different cultures and religions is an ode to the rituals and beliefs that tie us together, a powerful message in a time of division.
Between the works by Wearing and Lemos are works by Marina Abramovic. Photographs of her in red and blue, biting her nails, are at times intimate but also anxiety-inducing as they look painful. It’s arguably the weakest of the three, but that may be because I’ve seen the works recently and also seen a lot of Marina’s more effective performance art in major exhibitions in the past few years.
The Sainsbury Centre is also hosting a few other shows that opened previously as part of the wider ‘What is the meaning of life?’ season. Its ‘Living by the Rule: Contemporary meets Medieval’ exhibition takes us from the strict rules of Benedictine monks to Ingrid Pollard’s powerful and painful lenticular of a young black girl curtsying in deference to white rulers. While ‘Play Power’ looks at the importance of playing games, including ones you can play, such as Yoko Ono’s chess set, where both sides are white.
I’m a fan of the Sainsbury Centre’s programming, and while this set of exhibitions isn’t the strongest I’ve seen, there are still plenty of gems to be found, and lots of great ideas and art to get your teeth into – even if you don’t take it as far as Marina Abramovic has.
Joy Like Time is on until 15th November.
Tree of Life: Seyi Adelekun is on until 30th May 2027.
Living by the Rule: Contemporary meets Medieval & Play Power are on until 4th October.
All exhibitions at the Sainsbury Centre are pay if and what you can.
All Photos: Kate Wostenholme.
