Right in the heart of Oxford, yet hidden behind a medieval wall, lie the grounds of Worcester College – complete with a park, lake and orchard. Fourteen artists hailing from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Oceania will take visitors on a journey around Worcester College’s verdant gardens and historic architecture, each with a story to tell.

Artists around the world are turning again to the body in sculpture. Their outdoor statuary may draw on ancient or indigenous forms; it may metamorphose from human to vegetal. Some sculptures are totemic, others expressionist. Each work engages us in a drama that may be poetic, symbolic or sensual. Two 2025 graduates from The Ruskin School of Art will create performances that will animate both sculpture and landscape.

The exhibition is structured in five acts, each inspired by a line from Shakespeare, as a tribute to the outdoor plays performed for over 90 years by the Buskins, Worcester’s student dramatic society – the oldest in Oxford.

Curated by Iwona Blazwick and Katie Delamere, Curators Inc.

Worcester College, University of Oxford

, 2018, cast iron, 218.5 x 50 x 50.5 cm. Installation view, 

Sculpture in the Garden: The Storytellers

Sculpture in the Garden: The Storytellers

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