Exhibition

Heaven in the Ground DARCH

17th October 2026 - 28th November 2026

Heaven in the Ground reimagines the underground as a sacred space of regeneration, guided by insects, mycelium, and the Earth’s bedrock. Originally debuting at Liverpool Biennial 2025, this show is an evolving tour across Wales with newly commissioned works at g39, Cardiff and Mostyn, Llandudno as well as Mission Gallery, which will include the following new elements:

Kinetic Wheel

For DARCH, the Wheel symbolises the re-connecting of the Earth and the Sky. Capitalism has separated the Earth and the Sky by attributing the soil or the ground as the place of ‘lowly’ workers, and the Sky or the ceiling as the place of ‘ceos, bosses or people who are considered more important. The metal, foil and mirror reflect the soil of the Earth, underscoring its importance and asking people to return their gaze to the world below. 

Prints

The exhibition’s central installation, ‘Heaven in the Ground’ tells the story of bedrock – the earth underneath our feet – as a great connector which holds all histories; prehistoric, colonial, personal, as well as possible gentler futures. And in doing so reimagines the underground as a sacred space of regeneration, where insect psychopomps guide us, as they always have, through the afterlife revealed to be a place of forgiveness, ancestral connection, divine intervention and lessons learned without punishment or scorn. The soundscape underscoring the story collages together samples from songs connected to the artists cultural and religious upbringings, sound archives, and original composed elements that make audible the liveness of the Earth, its underground inhabitants and its utopian qualities. 

This exhibition proudly reflects DARCH’s diasporic connection to Wales, bringing together their Somali, Indian and Welsh cultural heritages, merging folkloric traditions to create new ecological rituals which challenge colonial narratives of death, decay and exploitation of land.

Heaven in the Ground was originally co-commissioned for Liverpool Biennial 2025, BEDROCK, by At The Library/Rule of Threes Arts and Liverpool Biennial, with generous support from FACT Liverpool.

The exhibition at Mission Gallery is kindly supported by the Jane Phillips Award.