Perhaps certain achievements come to mind for you – or people, or emotions.
Is it all about who you love, or how content you are?
What you have achieved, or what you have seen?
What is the end goal for all of us as humans?
Purpose?
Happiness?
Enlightenment?
Love?
This meaning could be found in the most unusual or unexpected of places, and so the real matter is how we find it.
Art has the ability to make us stop, question, and to guide us.
It has the ability to ignite a passion within each individual.
As well as looking to our family, friends, colleagues for this meaning, could we not look to artworks which already hold so many answers of human existence?
Perhaps the reason this question could remain perpetually unanswered is the simple fact that it means such different things to every single person.
So, in reality, there are many different meanings to life.
Just like the idea of soulmates.
Do you believe in them?
Does everyone have one, or more than one?
Perhaps, in this same line of thinking, there are many different meanings to life.
I will stop for a bit now on all the questions.
It is this very question – what is the meaning of life? – which the Sainsbury Centre is addressing in their next exhibition series, opening this month (May 16).
Multiple exhibitions look to investigate this fundamental question, delving into human existence through ideas of rule-making, time and play.
Exhibitions include one which compares contemporary artworks with historical artefacts such as the Hatton Codex and the Eadwine Psalter, one of the earliest architectural plans in Europe; plus, an exhibition exploring the concept of play in human cultures, featuring works by artists including Eileen Agar, John Armstrong, Leo Robinson, Sir John Lavery and Lygia Clark.
Exploring the idea of routine and regulation, Living by the Rule: Contemporary meets Medieval (16 May – 4 October 2026) reflects on the ‘rules’ that we live by today, through a dialogue between medieval experiments in a different way to live, and modern reflections upon how life is organised.
Addressing the concept of play in human cultures, Play Power (16 May – 4 October 2026) reflects on the broader significance of play and how this is integrated into our daily lives.
Would we live a more meaningful life if play were a central focus of day-to-day living?
Libby Heaney uses quantum computing to create immersive and participatory installations.
Life in the Multiverse (16 May – 4 October 2026), commissioned for the What is the Meaning of Life? season, includes a two-part digital installation and a new series of paintings.
Heaney layers diverse experiences to explore ideas around interconnectedness.
Joy Like Time (20 June – 15 November 2026) explores how memory, ritual and renewal intersect through the work of internationally renowned artists Marina Abramović, Kalliopi Lemos and Gillian Wearing.
Woven from hand-dyed sisal rope, Tree of Life by Seyi Adelekun (20 June 2026 – 30 May 2027) is a tactile and immersive installation, inviting visitors to move in and around the tree’s central hollow trunk.
Drawing on multiple traditions, the tree emerges as a universal symbol of the interconnectedness of all life, personal growth, the cyclical nature of existence and acts as a bridge between physical and spiritual realms.
The exhibitions within the Sainsbury Centre’s What is the Meaning of Life? season will offer a rich and varied approach to this vast question.
I am intrigued to discover how I might learn what the meaning in my life might really be.
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