The Cultural Institute of Radical Contemporary Arts (CIRCA) is an art and culture platform based in London's Piccadilly Circus.Buck, Louis
“New public art project in London will show works by Ai Weiwei and Eddie Peake on Europe's largest billboard”
''

The Art Newspaper ''The Art Newspaper'' is a monthly print publication, with daily updates online, founded in 1990 and based in London and New York City. It covers news of the visual arts as they are affected by international politics and economics, developments ...

'', 24 September 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021 Founded in October 2020, they commission and stream a monthly programme of art and culture, every evening at 20:22 (local time) across a global network of

billboards A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, New York, Los Angeles, Milan, Berlin, Melbourne and

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

.Rodorigo, Clar
“London, Ai Weiwei on mega screen for Europe’s largest digital art exhibition”
''

Domus In Ancient Rome, the ''domus'' (plural ''domūs'', genitive ''domūs'' or ''domī'') was the type of town house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. It was found in almost all the m ...

'', 12 October 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021Margolies, Jan
“New David Hockney Billboards to Brighten 5 Cities in May”
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 29 April 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021

History

CIRCA was established in 2020 by British-Irish artist Josef O'Connor.SEGALOV, MICHAE
“Being Mr Westwood: Vivienne is ‘eccentric, serious and genuine’”
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'', 26 June 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021Lloyd, Anthon
“Ai Weiwei: ‘I am going to disappear’”
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'', 8 OCTOBER 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021 Their free public art programme is presented in partnership with Europe's largest screen, Piccadilly Lights, and distributed across a global network of billboard screens in Tokyo and Seoul. The daily public art programme pauses the advertisements across a global network of screens for three minutes every evening. They commission new work to fill the space that considers the world in response to the present year: circa 2020, 2021, etc. It is the largest digital art exhibition in Europe. The first artist to fill the three-minute daily slot was

Ai Weiwei Ai Weiwei (, ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly ...

,Thorpe, Vaness
“Ai Weiwei on China, free speech – and a message for London”
''

'', 4 October 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021 who is quoted as saying in an interview with

that ''"CIRCA 20:20 offers a very important platform for artists to exercise their practice and to reach out to a greater public”''. Other notable artists and curators whose works have been exhibited as part of the CIRCA programme include

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

Marina Abramovic A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ship ...

Cauleen Smith Cauleen Smith (born September 25, 1967) is an American born filmmaker and multimedia artist. She is best known for her experimental works that address the African-American identity, specifically the issues facing black women today. Smith is bes ...

, Eddie Peake,

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

,Sturges, Fion
“Patti Smith: 'As a writer, you can be a pacifist or a murderer'”
''

'', 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021Yalcinkaya, Günsel
“Watch Patti Smith, Ai Weiwei, and more review 2020’s chaos and creativity”
''

Dazed ''Dazed'' (''Dazed & Confused'' until February 2014) is a bi-monthly British style magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. Dazed is published by Dazed Media, an independent media group known for producing ...

'', 5 January 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021 James Barnor,

Vivienne Westwood Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood (née Swire; born 8 April 1941) is an English fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream. Westwood came to public notice when she ...

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...

Alvaro Barrington Alvaro Barrington (born 1983) is a London-based artist. Primarily a painter, Barrington often incorporates yarn, wood and other media into his work. Early life and education Alvaro Barrington was born on 1 February 1983 in Caracas, Venezuela, the ...

and Anne Imhof. Each commission for the project is approved by an independent council chaired by the British independent curator and ex-director and chief curator of The Royal Academy,

Norman Rosenthal Sir Norman Rosenthal (born 8 November 1944) is a British independent curator and art historian. From 1970 to 1974 he was Exhibitions Officer at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. In 1974 he became a curator at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, ...

. Other members include the Ghanaian-British architect

Sir David Adjaye Sir David Frank Adjaye (born 22 September 1966) is a Ghanaian-British architect. He is known for having designed many notable buildings around the world, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, ...

, Ramita Navai, Greg Sanderson and Patrick Morey-Burrows.Welch, Adria
“David Hockney at Piccadilly Circus”
''e-architect'', 1 May 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021

#CIRCAECONOMY

Each month, the exhibiting artist creates an affordable print that is sold online in support of the #CIRCAECONOMY initiative. Launched with Ai Weiwei in October 2020, a percentage of the profits from each print is circulated back into helping build an economy that commissions new public art in the community, nurture more diverse cultural industries and supports emerging creative potential. In May 2021, CIRCA partnered with

to launch 'Class of 2021' a new global arts initiative awarding one emerging artist with a #CIRCAECONOMY cash prize of £30,000 generated from the sale of artist prints.Rogers, Danie
“Video artists: do you want your work shown on the Piccadilly Lights?”
''

'', 28 May 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021 Profits have also been used to support institutions, including Chisenhale Gallery and The Showroom with no-strings cash grants. Since launching in October 2020, CIRCA has distributed over £500,000 in cash grants, scholarshipsCox, Sara
“Art print sales fund #CIRCAECONOMY Scholarship Programme”
'' Goldsmiths University'', 18 January 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022 and donations. Following the success of their Yoko OnoCarter, Do
“Yoko Ono interrupts the world's biggest screens to share a message of peace”
'' Creative Boom'', 9 March 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022 collaboration in March 2022, CIRCA donated £300,000 to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

Central Emergency Response Fund The Central Emergency Response Fund (, CERF/FCIU) is a humanitarian fund established by the United Nations General Assembly on December 15, 2005 and launched in March 2006. With CERF’s objectives to 1) promote early action and response to redu ...

Programme

Every month since launching in October 2020, CIRCA has commissioned new-media work from emerging and established artists. The work is often socially involved and motivated by the desire to engage with public discourse and debate. For three minutes each day, a monthly rotating digital art programme pauses the commercial advertisements on London's iconic Piccadilly Lights, Seoul's K-Pop Square and Tokyo's Yunika Vision. On the occasion of British artist

presenting his iPad drawing ''“Remember you cannot look at the sun or death for very long,”'' in May 2021, a total of 85 screens, including New York

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

and Pendry West Hollywood joined CIRCA in presenting the largest digital art exhibition in the world. The CIRCA public art programme is free to attend and presented at the same time every evening - 20:20 throughout the year 2020 and 20:21 throughout the year 2021, and so forth. It is also streamed on the CIRCA website.

CIRCA 2020

*October –

*November –

with The ShowroomWriter, Staf
“L'arte anglofona risponde al Coronavirus sul più grande schermo d'Europa”
''

Italian Vogue ''Vogue Italia'' is the Italian edition of ''Vogue'' magazine. Owned by Condé Nast International, it has been called the top fashion magazine in the world. It's been in publication since 1964. Name ''Vogue Italia'' was first published as ''No ...

'', 20 November 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021Alexander, Ell
“Cauleen Smith: "We're not human without culture; art saves people"”
''

Harpers Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

'', 13 November 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021Brewer, Jenn
“Cauleen Smith takes over Piccadilly Lights with Covid Manifesto”
''It's Nice That'', 2 November 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021 *December – Eddie Peake *New Years' Eve - Anne ImhofHeardman, Ada
“Whipping Water: Anne Imhof vs. Hate for Hate’s Sake”
''Trebuchet Magazine'', 13 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021 Patti Smith Photo Booth

CIRCA 2021

*January –

*February – Tony Cokes *March – Emma Talbot with

Collezione Maramotti The Collezione Maramotti is the private collection of contemporary art of Achille Maramotti, who founded Max Mara. It is housed in the former premises of the company in Reggio Emilia, in Emilia Romagna in central Italy, converted for the purp ...

Lloyd-Smith, Harriet
“Emma Talbot on optimism, feminism and reconfiguring the roots of power”
''

Wallpaper Magazine ''Wallpaper'', stylized ''Wallpaper*'', is a publication focusing on design and architecture, fashion, travel, art, and lifestyle. The magazine was launched in London in 1996 by Canadian journalist Tyler Brûlé and Austrian journalist Alexand ...

'', 18 March 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021 *April – James Barnor with

Serpentine Galleries The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Central London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Gallery ...

Serpentin
“James Barnor: Past, Present, Future Presented in collaboration with CIRCA. Every day at 20:21pm”
''

'', 1 April 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021 *8 April -

*May –

*June – Nikita Gale with Chisenhale GalleryChisenhale Galler
“Nikita Gale: SOME WEATHER”
'' Chisenhale Gallery'', 24 May 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021 *July – London Zeitgeist Group Show:

, Larry Achiampong, Matt Copson, Hannah Quinlan & Rosie Hastings *August – Sojung Jun with Seoul Museum of ArtYuna, Par
“Korean artist Jun So-jung to join Circa’s project in August”
''

The Korea Herald ''The Korea Herald'' is a leading English-language daily newspaper founded in 1953 and published in Seoul, South Korea. The editorial staff is composed of Korean and international writers and editors, with additional news coverage drawn from int ...

'', 6 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021 *September - CIRCA x Dazed Class of 2021 *October - Where Do We Go From Now? *November -

Hetain Patel Hetain Patel; (born 1980) is an English visual artist specializing in performance, sculpture, video, and photography. His work has been exhibited in Norway, India, Belgium, and throughout the UK. Early life Patel was born and raised in a w ...

*December - AA Bronson & General Idea

CIRCA 2022

*January – Arca *February – Kandis Williams with

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

Commitment *March –

with

*April – Simon Fujiwara *May –

Agnes Denes Agnes Denes (Dénes Ágnes; born 1931 in Budapest) is a Hungarian-born American conceptual artist based in New York. She is known for works in a wide range of media—from poetry and philosophical writings to extremely detailed drawings, sculptu ...

*June/August -

*September – London Zeitgeist Group Show:

, Larry Achiampong, Matt Copson, Hannah Quinlan & Rosie Hastings and Anne Imhof *August – Sojung Jun with Seoul Museum of Art *September - CIRCA x Dazed Class of 2022 *1-4 October -

Shirin Neshat Shirin Neshat ( fa, شیرین نشاط; born March 26, 1957 in Qazvin) is an Iranian visual artist who lives in New York City, known primarily for her work in film, video and photography. Her artwork centers on the contrasts between Islam and th ...

*October - Laure Prouvost *November - Michèle Lamy *December - Douglas Gordon

Notable Events

*August–September 2020: Fine art students from the 'Class of 2020' whose graduation shows were cancelled due to COVID-19 were exhibited on the Piccadilly Lights screen for two months, in the build up to the official launch. Over 60 students were exhibited on the 4K screen - one graduate student each day. *31 October 2020: On Halloween night Chinese artist

set a record on Piccadilly Lights as his film 'CIRCA 2020' became the longest-ever single piece of content to be displayed on the giant illuminated billboard. Ai Weiwei’s film ran for just over an hour, pausing the regular advertisements at precisely 20:20 GMT, joining together the 30 parts of his month-long CIRCA residency.Buck, Louis
“Halloween with Ai Weiwei: artist's new film screens in Piccadilly Circus and online tonight”
''

'', 31 OCTOBER 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021 *1 January 2021: CIRCA commissioned two live performances from

to help put an end to 2020 and beckon in the new year. The New Years Eve screening in Piccadilly Circus was eventually cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions but the performance was still broadcast for free via the Circa

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

Channel on 31 December to an audience of over 1.5million people around the world: “Some of the work I did in my bedroom, some in a recording studio and some at my desk,” says Smith in an interview with

. ''“I had to teach myself how to use Photo Booth on my computer and film myself reading a poem. I’m sure there are 14-year-olds who can do this in five minutes but it took me quite a while. But I got there and I’m so proud of myself.”''Duponchelle, Valéri
“Patti Smith et Anne Imhof, deux artistes du tonnerre pour lancer la nouvelle année à Londres”
''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French Newspaper of recor ...

'', 28 December 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021 *April 2021: The CIRCA and

collaborative presentation of James Barnor’s work on the Piccadilly Lights screen completes a journey that began more than half a century ago, when Barnor photographed BBC Africa Service presenter Mike Eghan against the backdrop of Piccadilly’s neon signs in 1967. That electrifying image was the inspiration behind Ferdinando Verderi’s

cover, with Barnor remote-shooting model

Adwoa Aboah Adwoa Caitlin Maria Aboah (born 18 May 1992) is a British fashion model. In December 2017 she appeared on the cover of British '' Vogue''. She has also been on the cover of '' American Vogue'', '' Vogue Italia'', ''Vogue Poland'', and ''i-D''. ...

standing in the exact same location to create a present reflection on the past.Writer, Hous
“James Barnor, Adwoa Aboah e Vogue Italia”
''

'', 8 April 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021 *April 2021: To celebrate her 80th Birthday, British fashion designer

was commissioned by CIRCA to present a new video work created with her brother titled 'Don't Buy a Bomb' an 'anti-war' message presented for ten minutes on the Piccadilly Lights screen. In the ten-minute film, the punk icon performed a rewritten rendition of ‘Without You’ from

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flowe ...

to offer a stark warning of societal indifference to the looming environmental catastrophes, a cry against the arms trade, and its link to

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

. ''“I have a plan 2 save the World. Capitalism is a war economy + war is the biggest polluter, therefore Stop War + change economy 2 fair distribution of wealth at the same time: NO MANS LAND. Let’s be clear, U + I can’t stop war just like that. But we can stop arms production + that would halt climate change cc + financial Crash. Long term this will stop war,”'' Malzahn, Catherin
“Vivienne Westwood celebrates her 80th birthday in the most Vivienne Westwood way”
''

CR Fashion Book Carine Roitfeld (; born 19 September 1954) is a French fashion editor, former fashion model, and writer. She is the former editor-in-chief of ''Vogue Paris'', a position she held from 2001 to 2011. In 2012, she became founder and editor-in-chief ...

'', 8 April 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021 *1 May 2021: British artist

's 2.5minute iPad drawing of a sunrise titled ''“Remember you cannot look at the sun or death for very long,”'' was broadcast by CIRCA across digital billboard screens in London's Piccadilly Circus, New York's

and prominent locations in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

and the largest outdoor screen in

References

External links

* Culture in London Arts organizations Recurring events established in 2020 Live streaming services Internet television channels 2020 establishments in England Tourist attractions in London {{coord missing, London