Still from ‘Sounds of a Revolution’ (2025), by Mikhail Karikis
Mikhail Karikis
We are together because…
Mikhail Karikis’ installation ‘We are together because…’, based on the participatory project ‘Sounds of a Revolution’ and now part of the CAM Collection, is currently on display at the Foundling Museum, in London.
After having been presented at CAM from 17 May to 22 September 2025, the installation ‘We are together because…’, by Mikhail Karikis, travelled to London, where it is now on display in the Foundling Museum. This exhibition is the result of the participatory project ‘Sounds of a Revolution‘, for which the artist collaborated with 52 students from Artallis – Conservatório d’Artes de Loures.
Taking the Revolution of 25 April 1974 as a starting point, the artist and the group of young people reflected on urgent revolutions, present and future, adopting an artistic approach that emphasised the unique musical pedagogy implemented at Artallis, involving nothing more than the voice and body percussion.
This process culminated, in September 2024, in a concert presented by the students in the Gulbenkian Foundation’s Grand Auditorium, accompanied by the Gulbenkian Orchestra.
The audiovisual installation ‘We are together because…’ captured the project’s creative journey and incorporates scenes from the concert, offering glimpses of possible alternative worlds that we can build together.
It was also in this context that the work, belonging to the CAM Collection, was included in the exhibition ‘A Grand Chorus: The Power of Music’, which presents a fresh perspective on the origins, emotional experience and enduring impact of the ‘Hallelujah Chorus,’ in the past and the present. Originally composed as part of his famous ‘Messiah’ oratorio, Handel later incorporated the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ into a hymn he created especially for the Foundling Hospital, first presented in 1749 to help raise funds for the charitable institution.
Combining musical scores, librettos and musical instruments, as well as paintings, photographs, audio, video, personal testimonies and other archive material spanning three centuries, the exhibition ‘A Grand Chorus’ explores the profound effect music can have on both listeners and performers, encouraging visitors to reflect on their own physical and emotional links to music.
Exhibited for the first time in the United Kingdom, Karikis’ sound and video installation can be imagined as a contemporary counterpart to the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’.