Teresa Solar Abboud: Mother Tongue
This ambitious new large-scale commission is artist Teresa Solar Abboud’s first work in bronze
Bubblegum pink in colour, the sculpture, inspired by the artist’s own multicultural upbringing, depicts two tongues intertwining into one dancing figure.
Through Mother Tongue, Solar Abboud explores the process of translation and assimilation that she experiences within her family context. With an Egyptian mother and a Spanish father, she has grown up in the constant intermingling between these two cultures.
Having recently become a mother Solar Abboud has found further inspiration in the psychological and physical displacement entailed within the experience of motherhood, and in what it means to host another body.
In 2024, Solar Abboud’s sculpture was featured in our Hayward Gallery exhibition When Forms Come Alive: Sixty Years of Restless Sculpture. Mother Tongue is her first public artwork to be shown in London.
Mother Tongue is generously supported by the Hayward Gallery Commissioning Committee, Travesía Cuatro and Byredo.
For your visit
This event is held at the Hayward Gallery Southbank Centre
Tuesday – Thursday, 10am – 6pm
Friday, 10am – 9pm
Saturday, 10am – 8pm
Sunday, 10am – 6pm
Closed Mondays
Plan your visit
The Hayward Gallery is also where you’ll find the HENI Project Space.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
Cloakroom
We have a cloakroom for coats, umbrellas and small bags; it costs £2 per item.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Exhibition tours
Guided tours of our Hayward Gallery exhibitions are available to ticket holders; the dates and times of these can be found when you click through to book your exhibition tickets.
If you’d like to arrange a private/group tour of an exhibition, please contact us. The Hayward Gallery does not accept external tour guides or tour groups – all exhibition tours must be arranged through the Southbank Centre.
Food & drink
Offering sandwiches, salads, cakes and coffee, Hayward Gallery Cafe is the perfect spot for a pre-exhibition energy boost or a post-visit drink.
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.