Sculpture in the City, the City of London’s annual public art programme set amongst iconic architectural landmarks launches today with 18 artworks making up this year’s outdoor sculpture park in the Square Mile.

For the eighth edition, the exhibition includes works from internationally renowned artists including Sarah Lucas, Tracey Emin, Sean Scully and Nancy Rubins while also introducing three new commissioned works. The artworks are displayed close to some of the City’s most famous buildings, including 30 St Mary Axe (‘the Gherkin’), The Leadenhall Building (the ‘Cheesegrater’), as well as new locations for this year, including historic corners of the City, Heneage Lane and Hartsthorn Alley.

This year, the artworks are spread further than ever across the Square Mile, including four new locations and ranging greatly in form and scale. To tie in with celebrations taking place this year to mark the centenary of female suffrage, nine of the artworks have been created by emerging and established female international artists, supported by the City of London Corporation’s Women: Work & Power campaign. The exhibition will be accompanied by live events including the first ever City Sculpture Fest and Nocturnal Creatures, a new late-night contemporary arts festival from the Whitechapel Gallery in association with Sculpture in the City.

In 2018, Sculpture in the City includes two sound projects, a new venture for this year’s edition, challenging the idea of public art. Marina Abramovic’s Tree (1972) presents visitors with the sound of birdsong, with an insistent, distorted repetition, enclosed within a tree at 99 Bishopsgate. Miroslaw Balka’s ‘The Great Escape,’ the second sound piece, located in Hartsthorn Alley, features the iconic film’s theme tune being whistled repeatedly, each time providing a slightly different rendition.