Images above: Clare Farrow (see CV below), photo by Lan-Tien Sophia Guo; with Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, “Paper Sanctuary”, 2023, photo by Candida Richardson.

“I am a curator and writer, with a background in art and design history, but also, equally, in literature and music. So, my perceptions tend to be very interconnected - not quite to the extremes of synaesthesia, where you see a colour and hear a sound, like Kandinsky; but almost! And this is something that I play with and explore in my work. … I have been honoured to collaborate with some of the leading practitioners in the worlds of art, architecture, design, music, fashion, textiles, and photography, and have discovered many shared values.” Clare Farrow, Royal College of Art Lecture, 2025

“I am also delighted to be starting a multidisciplinary gallery and platform, Gallery Lightness21, inspired by the writings of Italian novelist Italo Calvino. Please see the Artists. Above all, I believe in the connective threads that bring people together, through education, dialogue and shared humanity; and in the art of the possible. Clare Farrow, 2026

“The images of Lightness that we seek should not fade away like dreams, dissolved by the realities of present and future.” Italo Calvino, ‘Lightness’, 1985

Clare Farrow Studio is a curating, research, writing, events, and production studio in London, founded by curator Clare Farrow, with international experience in exhibitions and installations for the V&A, London Design Festival, Somerset House, London Design Biennale, Roca and Barcelona Galleries, English Heritage, and Milan Design Week. The Studio has collaborated with outstanding artists, architects, photographers, designers, manufacturers, material researchers, academics, dancers, composers, filmmakers, and charitable foundations (among them Voluntary Architects’ Network and London Music Fund); and also supports young talent, working with colleges and universities such as Royal College of Art, Goldsmiths, The Bartlett, The Architectural Association (AA), and the KUMA LAB, providing opportunities for MA students.

Sponsored by international brands, including Harman Kardon, OPPO, Mikimoto, KP Acoustics, Perspex International, and Mineral Sound, the Studio has also been supported using public funding by Arts Council England, Arts Council Tokyo, The National Lottery, and Japan Foundation. With further support from The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation (GBSF), Daiwa Foundation, The Japan Society, Arup, and Awagami Factory. See Partners.

See also Testimonials. References can also be provided on request.

Curriculum Vitae:

Independent Curator, Writer and Lecturer (Clare Farrow Studio and Gallery Lightness21)

• Exhibitions, Talk Events, Film, Research and Writings, Learning and Community Outreach: from 2012 - Present

2026

• ‘Paper Sanctuary' by Shigeru Ban, Installation (see 2024, 2023), part of the major upcoming exhibition on Shigeru Ban, Centre Pompidou-Metz, France (5 Dec. – 30 Aug. 2027)

• Feature articles including a Profile of Charlotte Perriand and an Interview with Kvadrat Textiles, ‘Never Too Small’ magazine (Nov.2026)

• ‘Experiencing Glass: Metamorphosis’, research and exhibition development with Philip Glass Studio, Takeshi Hosaka Architects, Steinway & Sons, and Materials Assemble; ‘Layers of Time’, furniture exhibition development with Kai Ping Liu and Amorim

• Art Historical London, Visiting Lecturer (ongoing): ‘Henry Moore: Monumental Nature’; ‘Anish Kapoor: Conditions of Colour’

• Portrait Photography Commission for Kaupo Kikkas, Gallery Lightness21 (Director)

2025

• Feature articles including ‘Multi-functional Midcentury Furniture’, ’Never Too Small’ magazine

• ‘Paper Clouds: Materiality in Empty Space’, Installation (art, architecture, fashion and music) by the KUMA LAB (The University of Tokyo), Japan Pavilion in The Nelson Stair, Somerset House & London Design Biennale (5-29 June), Supported by Arts Council England, The Great Sasakawa Foundation, Mikimoto, and others

• Royal College of Art, Visiting Lecturer on ‘Design Materiality’, MA Interior Design, ‘Inside Out’ Series

• Curatorial Consultant, London Design Biennale 2025

2024

• Visiting Lecturer, Building Green, Copenhagen, Visiting Lecturer (Keynote Speech) on ‘Bubble or Box: The Future of Small Spaces’, ‘Build for Micro Living’ Conference

• ‘Paper Sanctuary: Pragmatism and Poetry for Ukrainian Refugees’, Installation (see also 2023) by Shigeru Ban, with poet Svetlana Kavochkina, photographer Vincent Haiges, composer Valentin Silvestrov, and the stories of refugees), Touring Japan, including: Simose Museum, Hiroshima; Kobe City Hall; Museum Tower Kyobashi, Tokyo; Oita Prefectural Art Museum; MUJI Naoetsu, Joetsu City in Niigata; Toyota City Museum; Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT); Sendai Mediatheque Library and Gallery

2023

• ‘Small Spaces in the City: Rethinking Inside the Box’, Exhibition (thematic, new research), Roca London Gallery (Sept. - April 2024); Curator Talks and Panel Discussions

• ‘Paper Sanctuary: The Humanitarian Pavilion’, Installation (design, poetry, photography and ‘memories of home’) by Japanese architect & humanitarian Shigeru Ban, with Svetlana Kavochkina, Vincent Haiges, Valentin Silvestrov, and an open call to refugees, in The Great Arch Hall, Somerset House & London Design Biennale (1-25 June, opening venue); Artist films by Candida Richardson; Curator and Photographer Talks; Shigeru Ban, Opening Lecture, Global Design Forum, Kings College London

• Curatorial Consultant, London Design Biennale 2023

2022

• ‘Bamboo Ring’ by Kengo Kuma / Kuma Lab, Arte Sella, Italy, Installation (permanent outdoor) and long-term material experiment (ongoing) 

• Lund Humphries, Consultancy, ‘The Art of Activism and the Activism of Art’

• ‘Reinventing Texture’, Book (Editor & Writer, Paperback and Limited Edition), Interviews and Essays by Toshiki Hirano, Clare Farrow, Vicky Richardson; and Limited Edition Prints

2021

• ‘Bamboo Ring: Weaving a Symphony of Lightness and Form’, Installation (design and music) by architect Kengo Kuma with Musicity and Midori Komachi, Fuorisalone, Milan Design Week & Interni magazine (Sept.)

• ‘Reinventing Texture’, Installation (design, soundscape and material experimentation) by architect, artist & philosopher Toshiki Hirano (The University of Tokyo), Japan Pavilion, Somerset House & London Design Biennale (1-25 June); Curator Talks and Panel Discussion (virtual)

2020

• ‘Musicity Expo 1’, with Nick Luscombe, Exhibition (architecture and music, 8 digital collaborations), London Design Festival (Sept.); and Panel Discussion (online, host)

• ‘Sound in Time and Step with Architectural Space’, Essay, Musicity (MSCTY)

2019

• ‘Bamboo Ring: Weaving into Lightness’, Installation by Kengo Kuma, John Madejski Garden, V&A & London Design Festival (12-22 Sept.); Artist and Curator Talks; Poetry Event

• ‘Memory & Light’, Installation (art, furniture design, music) by Arup and Arvo Pärt, Belsay Hall & English Heritage (Sept. - Jan. 2020); Talk Event

• ‘Shigeru Ban: Architect and Humanitarian’, Lecture, Roca Barcelona Gallery

• ‘Timber Rising: Vertical Visions for the Cities of Tomorrow’, Exhibition (thematic), co-curated with Studio Woode, Roca Barcelona Gallery (March - May); examining the history of building tall and wood in architecture with updated innovations in engineered timber worldwide; Catalogue (printed); Curator Talks and Panel Discussion (Host)

• ‘Pärt of the Landscape’, The Design of the Arvo Pärt Centre, Estonia, ‘Blueprint’ magazine

2018

• ‘Memory & Light’, Installation (art, design and music) by Arup and Arvo Pärt, The Norfolk House Music Room, V&A & London Design Festival; sponsored and filmed by Harman Kardon; Curator and Participant Talks with Michael Pärt (Arvo Pärt Centre), Arup, and Poltrona Frau

• ‘Timber Rising: Vertical Visions for the Cities of Tomorrow’, Exhibition (thematic), co-curated with Studio Woode, Roca London Gallery; new research on the history of building tall and wood in architecture with current research and experiments in engineered timber; Catalogue (printed) with Interviews; Curator Talks and Panel Discussions.

• ‘Timber Rising’, Opinion Piece, Dezeen

2017

• ‘Face to Face with Memory’, Talk Event (Moderator), Kengo Kuma and Heatherwick Studio, Roca London Gallery & London Festival of Architecture

• ‘Timber Rising’, new research project and interviews

2016

• ‘Childhood ReCollections: Memory in Design’, Exhibition (expanded), Roca Barcelona Gallery (1 Sept. - 22 Oct.); featuring Zaha Hadid, Kengo Kuma, Nieto Sobejano, Daniel Libeskind, Denise Scott Brown, Philip Treacy, Adolfo Domínguez, Custo Dalmau; Catalogue (printed, English, Spanish, Catalan); Curator Talks and Panel Discussion (Moderator)

2015

• ‘Childhood ReCollections: Memory in Design’, Exhibition (thematic, first version), Roca London Gallery (8 Sept. - 31 Jan. 2016); featuring Zaha Hadid, Kengo Kuma, Nieto Sobejano, Daniel Libeskind, Denise Scott Brown, Philip Treacy; Catalogue (printed); Curator Talk and Panel Discussion, including Perfumier; Lecture by Daniel Libeskind (in collaboration with Sir John Soane Museum, London) and commissioned film (Studio Libeskind, New York)

2012-14

• ‘Container for Thought: A Meeting of Architecture & Music’, Installation (design and music) by Shigeru Ban and Ryuichi Sakamoto, designed for The John Madejski Garden, V&A (unrealised); meetings and development in London, New York and Tokyo (2013-14)

• ‘Tree Symphony’, Installation (art objects and sound) by Ryuichi Sakamoto, featuring curated tree recordings from London, SIAF (Sapporo International Festival, 2014)

•Tree Recordings with YCAM Lab (Japan) and artist Julie Freeman for Japanese composer and environmentalist Ryuichi Sakamoto (Summer 2014)

• Feature & Cover Articles for ‘Blueprint’ magazine including texts on Kengo Kuma (‘Sharing the Same Shadows’), Shigeru Ban (‘A House of Card’), Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos (Bauhaus issue) and the Olympic Velodrome

•Participating Author, The Children’s Bookshow, theatre performances (Chinese history, art, literature) and workshops with children (see below)

Images Below: Wolfgang Laib, ‘You Will Go Somewhere Else’, from ‘Wolfgang Laib: A Journey’ by Clare Farrow, Edition Cantz, Stuttgart, and Parkett, vol.39; Constantin Brancusi, ‘Leda’, gifted to Clare Farrow by photographer and Bill Brandt student Marco de Valdivia.

See Education and Early Career in Museums and Magazine Journalism below: