Es Devlin's CONGREGATION Extends at PAC NYC for Four Weeks

Perelman Performing Arts Center has extended the U.S. premiere of Es Devlin: CONGREGATION with four weeks added. For the first time ever, world-renowned artist Es Devlin brings her acclaimed choral installation Es Devlin: CONGREGATION to the U.S., premiering October 29 – November 1 as part of PAC NYC ICONS OF CULTURE, where Devlin will be featured in a conversation moderated by photographer and artist Dario Calmese on Wednesday, October 29 at 6pm.

Due to high demand, the installation will return for an extended run from Tuesday, December 9, 2025, through Sunday, January 4, 2026. Tickets are available on a Pay What You Pay basis, and timed entry is required. 

Created in partnership with UK for UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, Devlin made large scale chalk and charcoal portraits of 50 Londoners who have experienced forced displacement from their homelands. Presented as a projection-mapped tiered sculpture, the work offers a luminous encounter with those who bring their gifts to a new country.  The deep emotional depths of CONGREGATION allow audiences to experience how art can illuminate powerful human stories.

The work was co-authored by the portrait sitters – reflecting on their lives in London, as well as their journeys from more than 25 countries, including Syria, Sudan, Ukraine, and Afghanistan. To create it, Devlin carried out the first 45 minutes of the drawing session without any knowledge of her sitter/co-author. After 45 minutes the drawing paused while the co-author told Devlin their story, then the drawing resumed.