Wild Trumpets, London – 2025

At Wild Trumpets, art is seen as a journey of both simplicity and depth, shaped by the many ways of being in the world. In Council of the Nine, multidisciplinary artist Sihan Ling presents an exhibition that unites the playful, intuitive aesthetics of childhood with the profound framework of the Enneagram – an exploration of the self that transits between ego and essence. Led by Sihan, Wild Trumpets is transformed into a theatrical installation featuring nine distinctive works created specifically for this project.

Council of the Nine is a living process shaped by the creative exchange between the artist and his young collaborators. Over recent weeks, Sihan has led workshops with children, exploring these themes through imagination, play, and making. Their unfiltered creativity and intuitive problem-solving have become central to the project. While the main exhibition reflects Sihan’s own artistic expression, downstairs an archive of the children’s creations documents this process.The result is a project blurring the line between teaching, learning, and creating.

Known for blending sculpture, installation, and participatory storytelling, Council of the Nine marks a shift in his practice – from the clean, conceptual minimalism of his earlier work toward a more tactile, hand-driven, and intuitive mode of making. Here, whimsical forms and “childlike” aesthetics become vessels for deeper inquiry. The exhibition uses these playful visual languages to explore how we navigate identity and self-awareness, revealing the essence that lies behind the structures of ego. It invites us to consider how simplicity and imperfection can carry profound meaning – and how the act of making itself can be a form of being and a source of joy.