The Spell or The Dream by Tai Shani at Somerset House

Somerset House has turned a little dreamlike this summer. Until 14 September 2025, Turner Prize–winning artist Tai Shani has filled the Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court with her new work The Spell or The Dream — and it’s free to visit! Commissioned to mark 25 years of Somerset House this exhibition blurs fantasy and reality in a dreamlike celebration of art, history, and imagination.

At the centre is a huge ten-metre-long glowing blue figure lying inside a glass casket, half-human and half-fantasy, slowly rising and falling as if breathing. It’s strangely peaceful, almost hypnotic, and you can sit right there on the steps surrounding it.

Shani, who’s known for her mix of feminist mythology, sci-fi and theatre, has described her work as creating “other worlds” — and standing in front of this one, you can see exactly what she means.

There’s also The Dream: a live broadcast of voices, sounds and ideas — with artists, poets, and musicians all riffing on how we imagine different futures. Add in a season of live events and performances, and the courtyard becomes part gallery, part stage, part gathering place.

It’s one of those shows that’s hard to pin down — surreal, poetic, and a little eerie — but that’s exactly why it’s worth experiencing.

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