Nine-day lullaby part of major gallery project

Ikon Gallery are set to collaborate with Icelandic artist Ragnar on a major off-site project in the shape of a nine-day sung lullaby.

The project comes as a collaboration with Artes Mundi, National Museum Wales, Cardiff and takes place between 25 June and 3 July at St Mary Magdalene, Tanworth-in-Arden.

'The Sky in a Room ' involves young professional singers from vocal ensemble Echo taking turns to perform an ethereal arrangement of 'Il Cielo in una Stanza ', the famous song by Gino Paoli, originally released in 1960.

Accompanied by the church organ, the singers repeat the piece uninterrupted for five hours a day for nine days, creating the effect of a never-ending lullaby.

The performances take place each day, 2-7pm, at the church which is a newly renovated Grade I-listed building in the heart of the Warwickshire countryside.

The Sky in a Room engages multiple mediums, creating video installations, performances, drawings and paintings that draw upon myriad historical and classical theatre.

Ragnar Kjartansson, said: “Il Cielo in una Stanza is the best song I know about the transformation of space. Gino Paoli wrote it in the 50s and got the idea when lying in bed with a woman at a brothel he had fallen in love with.

“Thinking of that lovely moment and how feelings transform space, how the walls of the room changed into endless woods he got that melody into his head. It is a song all Italians know, it is almost the Italian national anthem of love. Space and love. An ode to the transformation of space. The Sky in a Room. ”

The event is free and attendees are invited to drop in to the daily performances. For further details and to book on, visit the website.

Pictured: Ragnar Kjartansson, The Sky in a Room (2018).