Jane & Louise Wilson's 'Performance of Entrapment' explores ritual spaces at Bloomberg SPACE
From 17 July 2025 until January 2026, Bloomberg SPACE will host Jane & Louise Wilson's installation titled 'Performance of Entrapment.' This work draws connections between London's Temple of Mithras and Japan's Ise Jingū shrine, both dating back to the 1st–3rd centuries CE. The installation showcases a film featuring the Ise Ondō dance collective, displayed on a combination of mirror and LED screens. The soundscape merges archival drone sounds with cicadas and footsteps, delving into the contrasts between constraint and ceremony, particularly the exclusion of women in Mithraic rites compared to Ise's patrilineal practices. This piece continues their exploration of architecture and memory, following earlier works such as 'Stasi City' (1997) and 'Gamma' (1999). Anna Müller provided a review of the exhibition for Aesthetica Magazine on 14 June 2025.
Key facts
- Jane & Louise Wilson's 'Performance of Entrapment' runs from 17 July 2025 to January 2026 at Bloomberg SPACE
- The installation connects London's Temple of Mithras (1st–3rd centuries CE) with Japan's Ise Jingū shrine (1st–3rd centuries CE)
- Features newly filmed footage of the Ise Ondō female folk-dance collective with unprecedented access to Ise Jingū
- Uses dual projection onto a suspended mirror and LED screens resembling liturgical veils
- Sound design blends archival drone with field recordings of cicadas, footsteps, and distant voices
- The Wilson sisters were born in Newcastle in 1967 and first gained prominence with 'Stasi City' (1997)
- Their 1999 piece 'Gamma' earned them a Turner Prize nomination alongside Tracey Emin, Steven Pippin and Steve McQueen
- Their 2019 work 'Suspended Island' was shortlisted for the Aesthetica Art Prize and commissioned for the Great Exhibition of the North (2018)
Entities
Artists
- Jane & Louise Wilson
- Tracey Emin
- Steven Pippin
- Steve McQueen
- Anna Müller
Institutions
- Bloomberg SPACE
- Serpentine Gallery
- Aesthetica Magazine
- Aesthetica Art Prize
- Turner Prize
- Great Exhibition of the North
- London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE
Locations
- London
- United Kingdom
- Newcastle
- Japan
- Manhattan
- New York
- United States
- Governors Island
- Houses of Parliament
- Trinity House
- Greenham Common Air Force base
- Ise Jingū