London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE presents Born From Stone, an immersive installation by Goshka Macuga, inspired by the ancient Roman temple of Mithras discovered beneath the current site of Bloomberg’s European headquarters. The installation will be on view until January 18, 2025.

Macuga’s practice is based on historical and archival research, which informs her installations, sculptures, tapestries and collages. As a multidisciplinary artist, Macuga uses these different mediums to present old stories in a new way, creating a fresh view on social and political histories for modern audiences. With Born From Stone Macuga invites viewers to delve into the rich tapestry of Roman mythology, particularly the intriguing narrative surrounding the god Mithras, to whom the temple was dedicated.

Born From Stone explores these themes through a transformational cave-like installation featuring sculptural rock formations which evoke the subterranean landscape of the temple’s origins. Within this immersive environment, visitors encounter a selection of works, carefully curated by Macuga on loan from Imperial War Museums. Each piece contributes to the narrative of destruction and redevelopment that spans the history of the City of London and beyond. Through striking imagery and poignant symbolism, Born From Stone confronts the pressing issues of our time, from ecological crises to the impact and devastation of war. By linking historical events with modern day challenges, Macuga encourages visitors to think about how history repeats itself and affects our environment.

“The cave is a powerful symbol that appears in various interpretations of the mythological narrative attached to Mithras, with deep associations as a birthplace and as a place of violence and creation” explains Macuga. “With Born From Stone, I aim to expand upon these associations, exploring both the generative and destructive forces that shape our world.”

Visitors are able to engage further with the exhibition using the Bloomberg Connects app, the free digital guide to more than 400 cultural organisations around the world, including London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE and Imperial War Museums. The app can be downloaded via Google Play or the App Store, making it easy to access and engage with arts and culture from mobile devices, anytime, anywhere.

About the artist

Goshka Macuga was born in 1967 in Warsaw, Poland and lives and works in London. Macuga’s practice is based on historical and archival research, which informs her installations, sculptures, tapestries, and collages. Macuga questions historiography, political structures, and the pressing issues of our time. Bloomberg first collaborated with Macuga in 2003 for her installation Kabinett der abstrakten at Bloomberg SPACE Finsbury Square. In 2009, in partnership with Whitechapel Gallery, Bloomberg also commissioned Macuga to create a site specific installation, The Nature of the Beast.

In 2019, Macuga was commissioned to make a large-scale tapestry for the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Solo exhibitions include In Flux, Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, Spain (2022) and MUSAC, León, Spain (2021); Stairway to Nowhere, Kestnergesselchaft, Hannover, Germany (2019). Recent group exhibitions include Le Monde Comme Il Va / The world as it goes, Bourse de Commerce, Paris; ImPOSSIBLE, Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, Germany (2024); Paraventi: Folding Screens from the 17th to 21st Centuries, Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy (2023-4); HARD/SOFT: Textiles and Ceramics in Contemporary Art, Museum of Applied Arts (MAK), Vienna, Austria (2023); Public Matters: Contemporary Art in the Belvedere Garden, Vienna, Austria (2023); Everybody Talks About the Weather, Fondazione Prada, Venice, Italy (2023).

Opening hours of the exhibition

Tuesday – Saturday: 10 am – 6 pm Sundays & Bank Holidays: 12 pm – 5 pm First Thursday of the month: 10 am – 8 pm Closed Mondays, Christmas & New Year Bank Holidays

About London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE

Situated on the site of Bloomberg’s European headquarters, London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE returns the Roman Temple of Mithras to the location of its discovery in the heart of the City and offers visitors an immersive experience of the ancient temple as well as a chance to see a collection of the Roman artefacts found during the building excavations. Expanding on Bloomberg’s legacy of support for new commissions by international artists, the ground floor Bloomberg SPACE gallery aims to present lively and thoughtful works by contemporary artists whilst bringing fresh perspectives to the many-layered history of the site.

London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE is free to visit and open to the public from Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm, and on Sundays and Bank Holidays from 12 pm to 5 pm. Pre-booking is advised through www.londonmithraeum.com