Es Devlin: Other Worlds at the Design Museum

The stage designer Es Devlin has her first European retrospective. Es Devlin: Other Worlds opened Oct. 2 at the Design Museum in London and runs through April 4, 2027. It covers 30 years of work across sculpture, stage design, music, language and light, from opera sets to the Super Bowl, and it includes a replica of her London studio.

What is in the show

According to the museum, the exhibition combines artworks, installations and film with what it calls the largest solo presentation of Devlin's archive to date. It was conceived and designed with the artist.

The studio replica is filled with her books, objects and maquettes, the small models designers build before a full-scale set. A wall installation called Archive Unboxed presents early sketches, paintings, collages, diaries and prints from school, university and art college, which the museum says shows that all her projects begin with drawing.

The central piece is the 30-Year Desk, a large circular display designed for the gallery. It references work including her set for The Lehman Trilogy in 2018, Forest of Us, shown in Miami in 2021, the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony, the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show and large kinetic stage sculptures for concert tours by what the museum calls some of the world's most celebrated musicians.

Installations to look for

Come Home Again is a sculptural installation described as a shrine to endangered wildlife, redisplayed in what the museum calls a new constellation. Infinite Library is an installation of books supplied by Penguin Random House UK. At the end of the show the books will be donated to local charities in support of the National Year of Reading 2026, the museum says.

The page also lists images of other works from her career, including Mirror Maze, Songs for Sorrow, Memory Palace from 2019, and Library of Light in Milan. A work called Egg by Devlin was shown in New York in 2017, according to the photo credits on the museum page.

A note on who she is

The museum calls Devlin a British artist and designer. Our sources do not give a fuller biography, and we have not independently checked claims about the scale of her tours or productions. Readers who want background can look to the museum's accompanying book. Thames & Hudson is publishing A Concise Atlas of Es Devlin, a new version of its 2023 title An Atlas of Es Devlin, to coincide with the exhibition.

Planning a visit

Adult tickets start at 17.09 pounds, with student and concession tickets from 12.82 pounds and child tickets from 8.55 pounds. Entry is in 15-minute time slots, and the exhibition starts with a short introductory film. The museum accepts card and digital payments only. Members go free but should collect a timed ticket on arrival. The Design Museum is on Kensington High Street, next to Holland Park, and is closed on Dec. 24, 25 and 26.

Relaxed opening sessions for visitors who may find museums overwhelming are scheduled for Nov. 25 and 29 and Dec. 4. Family design camps on Oct. 29 and 30, built around stage design, were sold out on the museum's page at the time of our reading. An evening with Devlin in conversation with the museum's chief curator Johanna Agerman Ross is also listed, though we did not find its date.

Support and context

The museum says the exhibition is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, with Penguin Random House and the rug house STEPEVI as additional supporters. Bloomberg Connects offers a free digital guide with audio in which Devlin speaks about her work. These are sponsor credits from the museum, not an assessment.

Why it matters for New York readers

American audiences have seen Devlin's work at the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show and in the New York installation Egg in 2017, even if they do not know her name. The show is in London, and the museum's page does not announce a U.S. tour. For readers planning a trip, the dates give a window of about six months. For those who cannot travel, the museum's book and its digital guide are the nearest substitutes.

What we could not confirm

We have not visited the exhibition and found no published review at the time of writing, so we cannot judge how well it works. Ticket prices are as listed on the museum page. We could not confirm whether the show will travel. The cover photograph is a 2016 image of Devlin in her studio, not from the exhibition.

FAQ

When is Es Devlin: Other Worlds on view?

From Oct. 2, 2026 to April 4, 2027 at the Design Museum in London.

How much are tickets?

Adult tickets start at 17.09 pounds, according to the museum.

What will I see?

A studio replica, an archive wall, a circular 30-Year Desk, and installations including Come Home Again and Infinite Library.

Sources

*Cover photo: Tibby762, Wikimedia Commons, *[*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Es_Devlin_in_Studio.jpg*](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Es_Devlin_in_Studio.jpg)* (CC BY-SA 4.0).*