Curating Test

h(u)man was a one night pop-up intervention within Open Eye Gallery’s Wake Up Together exhibition, which featured photographer Ren Hang’s work of Chinese sexuality in a heavily censored society. Showcasing a diverse array of works about identity, gender, AI and the body, the intervention encouraging visitors to reflect on what makes us human in the 21st century – a time when society becomes more complex with globalisation and technology evolves to make our lives more convenient but we grow ever more distant.

18 – 25 exhibited a selection of work exploring themes of nature and identity by Lancaster-based artists at the Herbarium, a garden cafe and event space in Lancaster. Situating the exhibition in a non-gallery space, 18-25 challenges the notion of the white cube. The exhibition explores the role of non-gallery spaces in developing existing and new audiences, interrogating if such spaces could activate people differently, making them actors rather than consumers.

Home is where the ART is (pt.2) comments on the condition of space and ownership: a foundation of the community, showcasing a selection of artists from the Up North Arts collective. Within the show, the home transforms itself from living room, to gallery space and back again, settling in a midpoint where artworks and architecture collide. Ideas of homeliness are challenged by the art object, following the conventions of contemporary craft.

Past Forward explores reactivated and recycled historical ideas, positioning them within a contemporary context, featuring works by Up North Arts and Lancaster based artists. Situating the exhibition in a non gallery context, closer to the everyday lives of people in Lancaster, the exhibition simultaneously explores the significance of art experience and engagement in non-gallery spaces.