Earthbound: Contemporary Landscape from the Roberts Institute of Art
with
Sheffield Museums, Millennium Gallery

4 August–30 October 2021
Roberts Institute of Art

The earth is many things. Its vastness is often difficult to grasp, yet it is fundamental to our lives. It is our home and provides us with sustenance; it drives and is exploited by our labour and our economies. We are dependent on it for our survival; over the past year, many of us have found a renewed connection with it that has sustained us and brought us comfort.

Curated in partnership with Sheffield Museums, Earthbound brings together works from the David and Indrė Roberts Collection, alongside examples from Sheffield’s own visual art collection, to investigate our relationship with our environment. The works on display span land art, landscape paintings, video installation, sculpture and photography, by contemporary artists including Helen Chadwick, Richard Long, Dan Holdsworth, Mirosław Bałka, Theaster Gates and Berlinde De Bruyckere.

Thought-provoking and profound, Earthbound aims to encourage visitors to contemplate the future of the planet we inhabit and our own responsibility in taking care of it. [...] It is a show that could not be more resonant.
Yorkshire Post, August 2021

Earthbound is framed by Sheffield’s long history of working with the natural environment and the impact the landscape has had on the life of the city; from the geography that gave rise to the 18th century steel industry to the social housing that populated the skyline during the 50s and 60s. Today, with the current climate emergency, our relationship to the ground beneath our feet and the fabric of our landscape is changing, making this a timely moment to think more deeply about what the earth is and how we live with it.

You can find more press coverage on our dedicated press page.

Sheffield Museums

Sheffield Museums is the independent charity that operates six of the city’s leading museums and heritage sites: Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, Graves Gallery, Kelham Island Museum, Millennium Gallery, Shepherd Wheel and Weston Park Museum. Established in 2021, the charity cares for the city’s collections of art, human and industrial history, and natural science, alongside the Guild of St George’s John Ruskin collection and the Ken Hawley Collection Trust’s Hawley Tool Collection. We work with our communities to tell the remarkable story of Sheffield and its people, and celebrate its reputation for excellence in craft, making and innovation. Together with local, regional and national partners, we showcase home-grown creative talent and bring outstanding cultural experiences to the city.