Barbie to Anna Karenina: The Cinematic Worlds of Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer is an immersive and experiential look at the works of one of the most distinctive production design teams in the entertainment industry. Focusing on their artistic vision and range, the exhibition highlights Greenwood and Spencer’s process and shows how they develop the overall look and visual concept of a movie.

The experience centers on their collaboration in creating unique environments and settings that convey time, place, and character. Visitors have the opportunity to learn about the impact of production designers and set decorators on a film and leave with a greater understanding of their work.

The duo met while working at the BBC and have consistently worked together since then. The pair is known for their long-standing collaboration with director Joe Wright. Together, the trio has worked on Pride and Prejudice (2005), Atonement (2007), Anna Karenina (2012), and Darkest Hour (2017) – all of which received Oscar nominations for Production Design – along with Hanna (2011) and Cyrano (2021).

Other notable projects include director Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes (2009) (for which they received another Oscar nomination) and its sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011). Beauty and the Beast (2017), directed by Bill Condon, gave them the opportunity to create not only fantastical fairytale locations, but also living characters in the form of the enchanted household objects who inhabit the Beast’s castle. The film brought them another Oscar nomination. Greenwood and Spencer received their eighth Academy Award nomination for their creation of the pink-hued universe of writer-director Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (2023).

Barbie to Anna Karenina: The Cinematic Worlds of Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer is curated by Exhibitions Curator Michelle Puetz with the support of Curatorial Assistants Simran Bhalla and Alexandra James Salichs and former Curatorial Assistant Manouchka Labouba.