Darkness Visible
17 November 2017 – 25 March 2018
After spending a number of weeks in his studio, living and drawing in complete darkness, artist Sam Winston created this immersive exhibition, which allowed visitors to experience the creative impact of darkness.
At the heart of the installation was a specially created dark room which was completely covered in text written by the artist during its creation.
In addition, poets Emily Berry, Kayo Chingonyi and George Szirtes were commissioned to spend time in the dark and respond poetically to the experience. Their new poems were available to read and hear as part of the exhibition. These text works, including the artist’s text maps, created a written document of the often overlooked world beyond daylight.
Darkness Visible ran at the National Poetry Library from Friday 17 November 2017 to Sunday 25 March 2018.
For your visit
National Poetry Library Southbank Centre
The National Poetry Library is open six days a week.
Tuesday, 12 noon – 6pm
Wednesday – Sunday, 12 noon – 8pm
Getting here
The National Poetry Library is on Level 5 of our Royal Festival Hall.
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Study & library use
The library is London’s only space dedicated to poetry study. Visitors studying another subject or looking for a place to work are kindly asked to find an alternative space in the Royal Festival Hall.
