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The Barbican Mixtape: A History of the Barbican Estate

Hands playing a clarinet
31 May 2020
20 min watch

Celebrating London History Day today, watch a short documentary celebrating the construction and early life of the Barbican Centre. 

Nostalgia, fantastic shots of a Barbican that doesn't seem to have changed all that much, and an irreverent cut-and-paste commentary from promotional films, news, TV and motion pictures, all celebrating the Barbican Centre we're all missing terribly but we know will be waiting, ready to welcome us all back as soon as we can. This year's London History Day theme is 'London's Resilience' and the Barbican feels a good example of that, from the history of the site it sits on to whatever comes next in our current situation. 

The Barbican Mixtape was created by filmmaker Jack Wormell and the Barbican Archive team, as part of the Barbican Estate's 50th anniversary in 2019. 

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