The Barbican Centre, a City of London Corporation arts centre on Silk Street that houses concerts, theatre, cinema, exhibitions and a conservatory, and is home to the London Symphony Orchestra.
The Barbican is a large arts centre in the City of London, on Silk Street, that opened in 1982. Its own site describes theatres, galleries, concert halls, cinemas, a library, conference facilities and a lakeside, and a conservatory that holds over 1,500 species of plants and trees. The London Symphony Orchestra is described as its home. Other orchestras and artists work with it as associates and partners, which the Barbican co-commissions and showcases. It mixes music, theatre, visual art, film and talks under one roof, so one visit can cover very different kinds of art.
In its own words, the Barbican is "London's Creative Catalyst for arts, curiosity and enterprise". Its values are inclusive, sustainable, connected, daring and joyful. It also says that it presents artists on a wide range of topics, including sensitive or controversial ones, that hosting an artist does not mean endorsing their views, and that as an organisation it does not campaign on global or political issues. These are the centre's own statements about how it works.
The Barbican is part of the Square Mile. It is overseen by the Barbican Centre Board, a committee of the City of London Corporation, which is its founder and principal funder. The charity that runs the centre appears on the charity register as the Barbican Centre Trust Limited. The address is Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS. The centre describes a programme called Barbican Renewal as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine the arts centre, aiming to keep what people value about the Barbican while improving public and creative spaces and bringing underused areas into creative use.
We did not find a page that describes staff numbers or day-to-day culture. The values listed above are the best clue, with words such as inclusive, daring and joyful describing how the centre wants to behave. Its site links to a Meet the Team page and to emerging and practising artists, which we could not read. We are therefore not claiming anything about working life beyond what the Barbican says about itself.
The range of spaces means a wide range of jobs. Programmers and curators plan the concerts, plays, films and exhibitions; technical teams run lighting, sound and staging; front-of-house and visitor-services staff welcome the public; there are teams for the conservatory and the building, for catering and shops, for learning and community work, and for marketing, fundraising, finance and people. If you like the idea of a creative workplace that is part of the City, the centre's own jobs page lists current openings.
Website: www.barbican.org.uk
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