Talking Statues launched August 2014, generating media coverage across the world. Talking Statues gives voice to 35 iconic statues across London and Manchester. Pass a talking statue, swipe your phone on a nearby tag and  get a call back from Queen Victoria, Sherlock, or  Peter Pan… The project attracted contributions from the UK’s leading writers, actors and comedians – Patrick Stewart  to Dominic West, Tony Harrison to Anthony Horowitz. The statues will talk for a year. To hear them talk, you need to pay them a visit.

Find out who’s talking where: In Manchester and in London.

Talking Statues

Statues can’t just talk by themselves, you know!

Our projects are funded by local governments, trusts and foundations, and by corporate sponsors.

Search Party – 2016

Funded by the GLA as flagship event for Find Your London

Further support from: Coram’s Fields; Kings Cross; Guildhall Art Gallery; London Canal Museum; Museum of the Order of St John; St John’s Ambulance; Groundwork

Baker Street Wonderpass

Baker Street Quarter Partnership; TFL

Design partner: Big Design

Talking Statues Leeds – June 2016

Yorkshire Festival

Extra support: Leeds Art Fund

Theatre partner: West Yorkshire Playhouse

Statue Stories Chicago

Funded by the Richard Driehaus Foundation

Further support from Audible.com; Chicago Park District

Delivered in partnership with: City of Chicago; Chicago Libraries; The Art Institute of Chicago

Theatre partners: Steppenwolf; The Goodman; The Second City; Lookingglass Theater Company

Press: Kickstart Marketing Chicago

Talking Statues London ; Talking Statues Manchester

Funded by NESTA Digital R&D Fund; Google Fieldtrip; Audible.co.uk

Further support from the City of London; Broadgate; Canary Wharf; Manchester City Council

Theatre partner: The Almeida Theatre

Press: Riot PR

Ping! – The street ping pong festival, now in 18 UK cities

Funded by Sport England; Puma; Yahoo; Broadgate; Canary Wharf; City of London

Further support from the English Table Tennis Association; St Pancras Station

The Travelling Museum of British Invention

Royal Academy of Engineers (Ingenious Award); The Scottish Government;

Talking Science; John Ellerman Foundation; First Group Buses

Bing Thinking

Funded by Keep Britain Tidy with support from Westminster City Council

Search Party – 2011

Funded by: Create Festival Commission as flagship event for Cultural Olympiad

With support from London Borough of Hackney, Canary Wharf and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation

Street Pianos

Paul Hamlyn Foundation, the Greater London Authority; Westminster Council

Singing Histories

Heritage Lottery Fund; the British Library

Cities of: Leicester; Birmingham; Hull

With support from Cecil Sharp House

Sing the Nation

LOCOG and the Cultural Olympiad Team

Cities of: Manchester; Hull; Birmingham; Kent; Plymouth; Sunderland

Sing London 2007

Paul Hamlyn Foundation; Awards for All; Arriva Buses; CBS Outdoors; Starbucks;

With support from: the Victoria & Albert Museum; Tate Britain; National Portrait Gallery; English National Opera; the Royal Opera House; the Science Museum; the National Gallery; the Jazz Cafe

People who have kindly given us their time:

Jools Holland; Jude Kelly; Gareth Malone; Libby Purves; Jean-Philippe Gatien; Brian May; David & Carey Grant; Wayne Hemingway