As London’s art world gears up for Frieze London 2025, Prada Mode returns with its thirteenth edition, staging a multi-day cultural programme at the newly restored Town Hall in King’s Cross. Running from 15th to 19th October, the event combines fashion, contemporary art, and immersive experiences, opening as a private members club for the first two days before welcoming the public from 17th to 19th October.
Elmgreen & Dragset reimagine spectatorship at Prada Mode
For this edition, Prada has collaborated with the acclaimed Berlin-based duo Elmgreen & Dragset to create The Audience, a cinema installation that examines attention, presence, and the act of watching in an era dominated by image overload and hyperconnectivity. The installation transforms the Town Hall into a sculptural auditorium, where a blurred film loops continuously, showing a painter and a writer discussing their creative processes. Scattered throughout the cinema are five hyperrealistic sculptures of viewers, posed in various states of engagement, while another sculpture, The Conversation, depicts a woman FaceTiming with a character from the film, blurring the line between observer and observed.
Cinema installation that challenges perception
By redirecting attention from the screen to the physical space, Elmgreen & Dragset encourage visitors to reconsider what it means to see and be seen. The installation transforms the act of attending into a shared, reflective experience, highlighting the communal aspect of cinema and theatrical gatherings. In their words, the project emphasizes how audiences navigate and interpret seemingly familiar environments in new and unexpected ways.
Beyond the screen: talks, performances, and cultural exchange
Prada Mode London goes beyond the cinema installation, offering talks, performances, film screenings, and DJ sets throughout the week. The programme seeks to spark dialogue on spectatorship, cultural attention, and the evolving role of audiences in contemporary society.
Step into the pulse of London’s art season with our Frieze Guide — your curated compass to the names, moments, and movements shaping Frieze 2025. Explore the minds of Elmgreen & Dragset in our interview, discussing how their practice interrogates human perception, the commodification of nature, and the dialogue between urban and natural landscapes.
Photography courtesy of PRADA
