WONDER: Why We Believe in Magic

• WONDER: Why We Believe in Magic will journey across time and cultures, exploring the wonder found in the everyday
• From ancient ritual and alchemy to pop culture phenomena and modern manifestations, WONDER: Why We Believe in Magic interrogates how magic has always shaped the way we see, understand and imagine our world
• The exhibition will be featured as part of Somerset House’s winter season, also presented will be Through Our Eyes: Sámi Art and Culture and SKATE at Somerset House with Virgin Atlantic Holidays

Opening in February 2027, Somerset House’s new major exhibition will reveal how magic, wonder and belief shape the way humans understand, explain and imagine the world. Journeying across time and cultures, from the earliest evidence of supernatural belief to current digital phenomena such as WitchTok and AI, this landmark show traces why we continually return to magic to navigate uncertainty and find meaning in the unknown.

Taking over the Embankment Galleries, Somerset House’s largest gallery space, the exhibition will unfold across interconnected chapters, each revealing a different aspect of belief in magic’s presence within society and culture. Visitors will discover magic’s great archetypal figures – the Magician, the Alchemist, the Clairvoyant – and encounter spells, rituals and acts of collective imagination. The exhibition will reveal the different ways in which belief in magic has persisted across everyday life for thousands of years to the present day, explored through rare historical objects, contemporary artworks and immersive installations on a journey through the strange, the spirited and the unexplained.

Interwoven throughout the exhibition are several new commissions and immersive works. True Believer by Somerset House Studios artist Sian Fan will feature a magic mirror installation, inviting visitors into an experience of reflection and transformation. The Dream Station by Sammy Lee and Sarah Shin brings the story of the Sun Tarot Card to life, delivering otherworldly messages – cosmic forecasts, tarot readings and poems – which visitors can take away to keep. The Gathering will be a participatory space in which visitors can contribute spells and wishes in a collective act of enchantment.

Landmark historical artefacts and artworks will include The Lion Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel, which dating back 40,000 years, offers some of the earliest evidence of humans’ capacity to believe in otherworldly beings, and the Nebra Sky Disc, the Bronze Age portrayal of astronomical phenomena. Also included will be the rarely seen 16th Century painting The Conjurer by Hieronymus Bosch, depicting the Cups and Balls trick, considered one of the oldest magic tricks in history, it introduces the exhibition’s exploration of magic as a shared act. Other extraordinary objects featured will include Hocus Pocus Junior, the earliest illustrated English book devoted to conjuring and a witch in a bottle, a mysterious glass vase said to contain a trapped witch. Also featured will be séance ectoplasm, crystal balls, tarot decks, occult diagrams and spell-casting devices, archival material from figures such as Ada Lovelace and Ursula Le Guin, alongside contemporary phenomena including UFO lore, cryptocurrencies, meme culture, internet demonologies and conspiracy theories.

The exhibition will also give rare insight into the workings of stage magic with objects from contemporary stage and street magic and famous illusions. An interactive family trail will guide young visitors on a journey through the galleries and invite them to participate in magic of their own, with children under the age of 16 being able to enjoy the exhibition for free throughout the run.

Claire Catterall, Curator of WONDER: Why We Believe in Magic, said: “We often think of magic as something left behind by modern life. Yet wonder persists everywhere: it's there every time we check a horoscope, every time we invest in the stock market, every time we believe something on a screen because enough other people believe it too. This exhibition isn't about whether magic is real. It's about why we continue to return to it - and what that says about being human in a world we can never fully explain.”

Alongside the exhibition will be The Wonder Collection, a shop that will invite visitors to explore a thoughtfully curated collection of books, artworks, gifts, homeware and objects that celebrate the enduring power of wonder, folklore, ritual and imagination. The exhibition’s accompanying publication, The Wonder Exhibition Book, will delve into the ideas, artists and themes presented in the show.

WONDER: Why We Believe in Magic will be featured as part of Somerset House’s winter programme, which also includes Through Our Eyes: Sámi Art and Culture, the UK’s first group exhibition to celebrate the artwork of the most prolific and trail blazing Sámi artists working today and SKATE at Somerset House with Virgin Atlantic Holidays, one of London’s favourite festive traditions, transforming the historic courtyard into a spectacular seasonal destination, with skating for all ages, warming winter treats and one-of-a-kind gift shopping.