October at the Barbican

•Visual Arts
The World of Charles and Ray Eames
from 21st October, Art Gallery
This major new exhibition surveys the careers of Charles (1907-1978) and Ray (1912-1988) Eames, who are among the most important designers of the 20th century. The Eames Office, where the Eameses and their collaborators and staff produced an array of pioneering and influential work – from architecture, furniture, graphic and product design, to painting, drawing, film, sculpture, photography, multi-media installation and exhibitions – was active for over four decades.

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•Music
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
17th-23rd October, Barbican Hall and Milton Court Concert Hall
One of the world’s longest-established ensembles performs some of the greatest tone poems by Richard Strauss and Mozart concertos.

Sound Unbound: The Barbican Classical Weekender
31st October-1st November, Barbican Centre
The London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Academy of Ancient Music and artists from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama join forces to offer audiences some of the greatest music ever written, from medieval to modern, in an informal festival environment. Over 50 short concerts across 48 hours in different locations, accompanied by talks and debates.

Rustavi Ensemble and A Filetta
13th October, 7.30pm, Barbican Hall
Artists present unconventional and traditional polyphonic singing from Georgia and Corsica.

Jeff Mills: Light from the Outside World
24th October, 7.30pm, Barbican Hall
Detroit’s legendary techno producer and DJ Jeff Mills teams up with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in a project which blurs the line between a club and a concert hall, weaving together electronic dance and orchestral music in a concert hall setting.

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•Theatre
CASA Latin American Theatre Festival 2015
Various performances throughout the month. Check Barbican website for details.

Out of India: Modern Moves
21st-24th October, The Pit
Showcasing three of the most inventive contemporary choreographers to have emerged from the country’s arts scene, this trilogy features work with a striking perspective on life in modern India, a long way from either classical or Bollywood dance-styles. The duet NH7 by Bangalore-born Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy is a political take on India’s rapid urbanisation, depicting its impact on individuals swept up in sudden change.  A mesmerising dancer, Hemabharathy Palani presents Trikonanga, in which she pulls apart the classical dance form Bharatanatyam, playing on its fascination with triangles in a myriad of ways. Nerves, Surjit Nongmeikapam’s piece for five men, influenced by folk traditions and martial arts, blends props, projection and an intense physicality.

SPILL Festival of Performance: Karen Finley – Written in Sand
28th-31st October, The Pit
Seminal US performance artist Karen Finley makes a rare UK appearance with an elegiac anthology of spoken-word pieces that confronts the AIDS crisis in 1980s New York. 

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•Cinema
Head Trips: Films for the Inner Eye
1st-6th October, Cinema 3
A season of films that dazzle and elate to complement the Barbican’s psychedelic music series Transcender.

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•Barbican Open Salon
Is our freedom under threat?
Director of Liberty Shami Chakrabarti CBE explores how human and civil rights are under unprecedented pressure and why governments are trading greater security for less freedom.  Discussing her latest book On Liberty, Shami explains how these freedoms are essential to protect and empower people, and to curb the powerful elite.

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