Encounters: Giacometti

Contributions by Shanay Jhaveri and Émilie Bouvard. Conversations with Huma Bhabha, Mona Hatoum, and Lynda Benglis.

Published to accompany the Encounters exhibition series held at the Barbican, London that positioned historic sculptures by Alberto Giacometti with new works by contemporary artists

One of the most significant European sculptors of the 20th century, Giacometti is known for his distinctive, elongated sculptures which experiment with the human form. Responding to the pain and devastation caused by the Second World War, his works proposed a new perspective on humanity and the collective psyche. Organized in collaboration with the Fondation Giacometti, this year-long series launched in May 2025 with an exhibition of works by Huma Bhabha, followed by Mona Hatoum in September and Lynda Benglis in February 2026. Their artworks resonate with and respond to Giacometti’s sculptures, opening up new intergenerational dialogues through the timeless themes of death, fragmentation, the domestic, memory, trauma, the erotic, horror and humour. This is the first time that their sculptures will be seen alongside Giacometti’s works.

This publication features new essays by exhibition curators Shanay Jhaveri (Head of Visual Arts, Barbican) and Émilie Bouvard (Director of Collections and Scientific Programme, Fondation Giacometti) and is richly illustrated with images of the exhibitions. Artist conversations with Huma Bhabha, Mona Hatoum, and Lynda Benglis offer new insight into each artist's practice and their particular relationships to the work of Alberto Giacometti. This volume contains three-hole sewn paperbacks in a slipcase.