Curating

Shifting Boundaries is conceived as an online meeting space where we explore what it means to trust and step out of one’s threshold. Conceptualised during the Covid-19 lockdown, this gathering space coordinates our return to one another and to shared spaces. Acknowledging the importance of trust and love at a time of difficulty and uncertainty, the exhibition considers the role artists can play in developing ideas of togetherness through collaboration and stepping out of comfort zones.

Ballets Russes: Concealed Histories offers a survey of the dance troupe’s textile pieces, showcasing myriad details that contributed to their recognition as one of the most influential ballet companies of the 20th century. The exhibition examines how these costumes offer a historical and contemporary reconsideration of the ballet troupe in terms of its design, choreography and music.

Objectivity: a constellation of ideas, objects and people features a selection of objects from The David Usborne Collection which share limited biographies regarding their provenance and history. Conceived as a method of research for knowledge-making, the exhibition works toward expanding new and established narratives as opposed to reinstituting formalised bodies of knowledge.

No horizon, no edge to liquid explores the concept of cultural hybridity as a space in which cultures meet: where bridges are built between societies through the processes of communication, negotiation, and translation. The exhibition includes work by thirteen artists, all of whom were born outside North America or continental Europe, although many have since immigrated there.

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.