In Conversation: Katie Paterson and Afterlife architect, Ingrid Moye from Zeller & Moye

Artist Katie Paterson will be joined by architect Ingrid Moye from Berlin/Mexico City based architects, Zeller & Moye.

Join Artist Katie Paterson in conversation with Ingrid Moye from Berlin/Mexico City based architects, Zeller & Moye, as they discuss their long-term collaboration, including most recently on Afterlife, Paterson’s latest work, currently on display in our Dome gallery.

About Afterlife

Afterlife brings together nearly 200 amulets in a sculptural installation designed in collaboration with Berlin-based architects, Zeller and Moye. Amulets are miniature talismanic objects, typically carved in stone. Appearing across millennia and cultures, they are small enough to be held in the hand or worn, and are generally considered protective.

Afterlife reimagines this tradition. Working with museums around the world, Paterson has recreated amulets civilisations across the globe (including Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Viking, Islamic, Japanese, Indian, Chinese, Celtic, Greco-Roman and Pre-Columbian), using materials sourced from endangered landscapes and fragile ecosystems, to serve as a bridge between past and present.

The materials used to recreate the amulets reflect the pressing environmental issues of our time. Rocks from glacial terrains left bare by retreating ice, coral from the Great Barrier Reef, stones from islands facing rising sea levels, and other materials from devastated or threatened ecosystems are transformed into tiny objects of reflection, connection and renewal. Each chosen material carries a story of environmental fragility, symbolising urgent issues such as biodiversity loss, deforestation, and the impact of climate change.

Installed in a distinctive circular table crafted from sycamore by local makers Silvan, Afterlife explores themes of deep time, geology, and the environment. Drawing on centuries of cultural and spiritual traditions to reflect the fragility of the natural world today, Afterlife prompts us to consider the legacies we leave for future generations.

Afterlife was commissioned by Creative Folkestone for Folkestone Triennial 2025, with additional support from The Shifting Foundation, Collective Edinburgh and Goethe Institut Glasgow. Exhibition Design by Zeller & Moye.

About Katie Paterson

Katie Paterson is known for her poetic and conceptually driven works that explore deep time, the cosmos, and the fragility of our planet. Collaborating with scientists, astronomers and researchers across the globe, her art connects the everyday with the vast and unknowable, from distant galaxies to disappearing glaciers.

Paterson has exhibited internationally, from London to New York, Berlin to Seoul, and her works have been included in major exhibitions including Turner Contemporary, Hayward Gallery, Tate Britain, Kunsthalle Wien, MCA Sydney, Guggenheim Museum, and The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. She was winner of the Visual Arts category of the South Bank Awards, and is an Honorary Fellow of Edinburgh University.

About Zeller & Moye

Zeller & Moye was founded by Christoph Zeller and Ingrid Moye as an architectural studio that operates with an interdisciplinary and global approach, with bases in Mexico City and Berlin. Their work covers a wide range of typologies and scales, from object design to large buildings, working frequently at the boundaries of architecture, art and design. Zeller & Moye's projects aim to engage with the public realm and address social and sustainability issues whilst seeking for opportunities to go beyond boundaries and striving for the unexpected. The studio has won the Panamerican Architecture Biennial of Quito in 2020, has been awarded as Design Vanguard by Architectural Record in 2023, and was recognised as one of the 100 influential designers worldwide by AD magazine. Christoph Zeller and Ingrid Moye are professors at the Architectural Association of London. As writers, lecturers and guest critics at various universities they frequently contribute to the discourse on architecture and design.