Join us for a unique opportunity to hear artist Nika Neelova discuss her new exhibition Through a glass darkly and the exquisite work she has made in response to her 2024 residency at Sir John Soane’s Museum.
This will be a magical evening in celebration of our new exhibition of Nika Neelova’s work, Through a glass darkly. Neelova will discuss her unique artistic practice and the ways in which Sir John Soane and his Museum have inspired her creativity, in conversation with curator Yates Norton.
Guests will have the opportunity to experience Sir John Soane's Museum after hours, by candlelight. There will be an opportunity to view the exhibition from 18:30 and a drinks reception in our atmospheric drawing rooms will follow the talk.
Please note that timings for the evening will be as follows:
18:30: Doors open; opportunity to view Through a glass darkly
19:00: Talk begins
20:00: Drinks reception
20.45: Event finishes
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About the speakers
Nika Neelova has gained recognition for her large scale sculptures and sculptural installations, depicting complex, imaginary environments that suggest a place or a landscape out of time. She is currently working towards a major solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Salzburg. Recent projects include a new commission for Frieze Sculpture Park, London curated by Fatos Ustek (2024), solo exhibitions ‘Thaw’ at Noire Gallery, Turin (2024) and ‘beghost’ at Nika Projects, Dubai (2024), a newly commissioned installation ‘Very Like a Whale’ for the Santozeum, Santorini (2023) and institutional solo exhibitions ‘SILT’ at Brighton CCA (2021); ‘One of Many Fragments’ at the New Art Centre, Roche Court (2021), [ъ] [ы] [ь] at Garage MCA (2021), ‘Ever’ at The Tetley, Leeds (2019) and the Celine Art Project for Celine London, curated by Hedi Slimane (2021).
Nika Neelova received her Masters Degree from the Slade School of Art, UCL after graduating with a BA degree from the Royal Art Academy, KABK. She has previously been awarded the Kenneth Armitage Young Sculptor Prize, the Land Security Prize Award, the Royal British Society of Sculptors Bursary Award and was the winner of Saatchi New Sensations. In 2017 she attended a residency program organised by the Wysing Art Centre in Cambridge. In 2019 she was awarded the Arts Council National Lottery Grant supporting the development of her practice. Nika Neelova lives and works in London, and her work is represented in public and private collections internationally.
Yates Norton is a curator at the Roberts Institute of Art, where he works closely with the residency, commissions new performances and curates exhibitions with the David and Indrė Roberts Collection, one of the foremost private collections in the UK. Recent projects include performance commissions such as the opera Hey Maudie from Rachel Jones,(2023), and Simeon Barclay’s The Run (2025) and exhibitions including In Attendance (Fitzrovia Chapel 2025), Immortal Apples, Eternal Eggs (a collaboration with the Ingram Collection at Hastings Contemporary 2024-2025) and Close Looking (Cromwell Place, 2023). He has developed a multi-disciplinary programming that has included partnering with the Royal Academy of Music, commissioning new texts from writers including Dame Marina Warner, Renee Gladman and Heather Philipson and engaging with a wide range of speakers in public programming.
