The Soothsayer's Chorus: the voices we should have listened to
Reclaiming Cassandra at Pink Floyd's old Britannia Row Studios, supported by Jimmy Choo.
The Woman nobody believed
In Greek myth, Cassandra of Troy was cursed to see what was coming and never be believed. The Soothsayer's Chorus, opening at the former Britannia Row Studios in Islington, reclaims her not as a lone tragic figure but as a collective, polyphonic chorus of women whose ecological and social visions require our attention now.
The exhibition takes over 35 Britannia Row, the Islington building where Pink Floyd recorded in the 1970s
Curators Beth Greenacre, who looked after David Bowie's art collection for more than sixteen years, and Bettina Prentice, a producer and cultural advisor, are using the building's cultural resonance deliberately: a room built for sound and experimentation becomes a room for voices that were historically dismissed.
The line-up spans generations and continents
Ana Mendieta, Cecilia Vicuña, Judy Chicago, Katie Paterson, Veronica Ryan OBE RA, Virginia Overton, Nika Neelova, Manal Al Dowayan, Davina Semo, Saya Woolfalk and Grammy-winning singer Jewel, among others.
The works to know
Katie Paterson's The Moment (2022) is an hourglass containing crushed asteroid, lunar, and pre-solar particles — urgency and deep time in a single object.
Nearby, Cecilia Vicuña's Kuntur Ko (2012), a chant written in response to Chile's disappearing glaciers, resonates harder against the floods in Nepal.
Nika Neelova's Beghost (2025–26) builds a delicate pyre from clay roses and fossilized shark teeth — a monument to the insubordinate woman.
Judy Chicago’s Immolation (1972) shows a goddess-like figure rising out of coloured smoke.
Close by are two photographs by Ana Mendieta of female forms drawn into sand, which recall prehistoric Venus figurines.
Ring the bell
Visitors are invited to ring two monumental bronze bells by Davina Semo, a nod to the bell’s long history as a call to wake up and gather. Jewel’s new stainless-steel sculpture draws on pre-Christian matriarchal myth, in which prophecy is about learning to listen rather than predicting the future.
The Soothsayer's Chorus is supported by Jimmy Choo
It’s a partnership that fits the show's core idea: women's voices, gathered together, carry further than any single prophecy.
Credits: FITZ&CO. The Soothsayer's Chorus. 35 Britannia Row, London N1 8QH. Until 23 October 2026. Curated by Beth Greenacre & Bettina Prentice · @fitzandco
