Arts calendar 2017: Exhibitions, conferences & other events

JANUARY
Hull 2017: UK City of Culture
With Hull 2017 events taking place across the city throughout the year, the Look Up visual arts programme includes new works by artists including Bob and Roberta Smith, Michael Pinsky, and Tania Kovats. Also taking place over the 12 months is the #Redboard2017 programme, which sees 13 artist-designed billboards popping up around the city. Other art-related events include the return in February of Cosey Fanni Tutti and Genesis P-Orridge to the city where they founded the performance art group COUM Transmissions in the late 1960s, with an exhibition and series of live events. September meanwhile sees the opening of the 2017 Turner Prize exhibition at the city’s Ferens Art Gallery.
Until 31 December, venues across Hull. www.hull2017.co.uk

North: Identity, Photography, Fashion
This exhibition explores the way the north of England is depicted, constructed and celebrated in photographs, artworks and fashion collections. It includes work by photographers Jamie Hawkesworth and Alasdair McLellan, plus historic prints from Glen Luchford including his very first shoot – a session with The Stone Roses for The Face back in 1989.
6 January – 19 March, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool. www.openeye.org.uk

London Art Fair
Alongside a main fair of stalls offering modern and contemporary art, the Art Projects section introduces artists from countries including Greece, Germany, Japan, France, South Korea and Zimbabwe. Highlights for 2017 will include large-scale installations, solo shows and thematic group displays, alongside an accompanying programme of collaborative film and new media initiatives.
18-22 January, Business Design Centre, Islington, London. www.londonartfair.co.uk

What’s it worth?
A one-day seminar organised by a-n looking at the value of an artist’s practice, from pricing work to charging fees. Led by Lucy Day, curator at Day + Gluckman.
18 January, Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne. www.a-n.co.uk

Elisabeth Frink: Transformation
This solo exhibition of sculpture by Elisabeth Frink (1930-1993) features a selection of bronzes produced in the 1950s and 1960s, alongside a series of drawings. Also on show outside in the gallery’s grounds are some of Frink’s sculptures from her later life.
19 January – 7 May, Hauser and Wirth, Somerset. www.hauserwirthsomerset.com

Lubaina Himid
A pioneer of the Black Arts Movement in Britain in the 1980s, Lubaina Himid’s work focuses on migration, labour and creativity. This year sees major shows of her work at Spike Island, Bristol and Modern Art Oxford. The Bristol show includes the Preston-based artist’s Naming the Money, an installation of 100 life-size, painted figures that has been shown only once before in its entirety.
20 January – 26 March, Spike Island, Bristol. www.spikeisland.org.uk;
21 January – 30 April, Modern Art Oxford. www.modernartoxford.org.uk

Artes Mundi 7 – Artists’ talks and conversations
A day of talks and conversations led by the Artes Mundi 7 shortlist artists John Akomfrah, Neïl Beloufa, Amy Franceschini / Futurefarmers, Lamia Joreige, Nástio Mosquito and Bedwyr Williams. Following on from the artist talks, Situations director Claire Doherty will lead a conversation with the audience along with Artes Mundi director Karen MacKinnon and Artes Mundi 7 selectors Élise Atangana and Alistair Hudson.
25 January, Reardon Smith Lecture Theatre, National Museum Cardiff, Cardiff, 9.30am-5pm. www.eventbrite.co.uk

FEBRUARY
New Art West Midlands
All the artists showing here have graduated from one of the West Midlands’ undergraduate and postgraduate fine art degree courses in the past three years. Featuring sculpture, painting, photography, mixed media, installation, digital media, video/film art, and live art/performance.
February – May, across Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton. www.newartwm.org

Collect: The International Art Fair for Contemporary Objects
Now in its 13th edition, the Crafts Council’s Collect festival returns to the Saatchi Gallery in London’s Kings Road. On sale over five days will be contemporary ceramics, glass, jewellery, wood, metal and textiles from established and emerging artists, and makers represented by over 30 galleries.
2-6 February, Saatchi Gallery, London. www.craftscouncil.org.uk

Object! On the Documentary as Art
This symposium will explore the aesthetic potential, political stakes, and ethical challenges that arise from regarding documentary film as an art object. Contributing academics, filmmakers and artists include Erika Balsom, Rosalind Nashashibi and Mairéad McClean.
4 February, Whitechapel Gallery, London. www.whitechapelgallery.org

The Place is Here
Bringing together around 100 works by over 30 artists and collectives, ‘The Place Is Here’ presents work produced by black artists in the 1980s, challenging the white, western-centric narrative of mainstream art of the period. The show includes painting, sculpture, installation, photography, video and archival displays, exploring British culture and politics and including works by Lubaina Himid, John Akomfrah, Sonia Boyce and Keith Piper.
4 February – 30 April, Nottingham Contemporary. www.nottinghamcontemporary.org

In Between Time
The biennial of live art and performance returns to Bristol. IBT 17 presents its most ambitious programme to date with 40 artists staging works across 10 locations in the city.
8-12 February, various venues, Bristol. www.inbetweentime.co.uk

David Hockney
This extensive retrospective features Hockney’s work in painting, drawing, print, photography and video across six decades. As the artist approaches his 80th birthday there seems to be no letting up, changing methods of working and embracing new technologies as he goes.
9 February – 29 May, Tate Britain, London. www.tate.org.uk

Managing a project
A one-day seminar organised by a-n giving advice and guidance on setting up and/or managing your own arts projects. Led by Frances Lord.
10 February, Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne. www.a-n.co.uk

Revolution: Russian Art 1917–1932
One hundred years on from the Russian Revolution, this show explores one of the most momentous periods in modern world history through its art.
11 February – 17 April, Royal Academy, London. www.royalacademy.org.uk

Bruegel: Defining a Dynasty
This show explores Antwerp’s famous artistic dynasty across four generations through 35 works. Including loans from the National Gallery, Royal Collection Trust, the National Trust, the Fitzwilliam Museum, the Ashmolean Museum and the Barber Institute of Fine Arts.
11 February – 4 June, The Holburne Museum, Bath. www.holburne.org

MARCH
Navigating the art world and getting your work shown
Through a mixture of presentation and exercises, this one-day seminar organised by a-n demystifies the art world and provides concrete ideas for how you might enable your work to get under the radar of people most pertinent to your practice. Led by Lucy Day, curator at Day + Gluckman.
1 March, The Green Room, Norwich.
www.a-n.co.uk

Drawing Biennial
Annual exhibition and online auction of over 200 unique works on paper.
2 March – 26 April, The Drawing Room, London.
www.drawingroom.org.uk

Pages Leeds | International Contemporary Artists’ Book Fair
Leeds’ artist book fair features an extensive programme of talks, workshops, performance and audio events alongside the exhibition and fair stands. Run by John McDowall and Chris Taylor, a core aim is to set artist book practice centre stage, giving it a prominence and cultural visibility in response to the growing interest in this medium.
4-5 March, The Tetley, Leeds. www.leedsartbookfair.com

Approaches to writing and representing your work
This workshop for performance artists will focus on approaches to writing artist statements and submissions. The Artsadmin team and invited specialists will unpick common application questions and discuss ways of opening up creative conversation around representing your practice in writing.
9 March, Toynbee Studios, London.
www.artsadmin.co.uk

American Dream, Pop to the Present
This show celebrates the American Dream through more than 200 prints by 70 artists including Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg.
9 March – 18 June, The British Museum, London.
www.americandreamexhibition.org

Michelangelo & Sebastiano
Exhibition exploring the artistic relationship between the two Renaissance masters, Sebastiano del Piombo and Michelangelo, from the 1510s through to the 1540s. Highlights include The Raising of Lazarus, painted for the Cathedral of Narbonne and one of the foundational works in the National Gallery Collection.
15 March – 25 June, National Gallery, London.
www.nationalgallery.org.uk

Creating the Countryside
This show at Compton Verney’s art gallery, located in the beautiful surroundings of a Warwickshire park, features works spanning more than 350 years of art history and explores how artists have helped shape the vision of rural life and landscape. Artists range from Thomas Gainsborough, Claude Lorrain, George Stubbs and Stanley Spencer, to contemporary artists such as Mat Collishaw, Anna Fox, Sigrid Holmwood and Grayson Perry.
18 March – 18 June, Compton Verney, Warwickshire. www.comptonverney.org.uk

The Clearing
Also at Compton Verney, a living, breathing encampment in its grounds will become part school, part shelter, part folly, and a place where people can come together to explore at first hand a future afflicted by climate change. Artists Alex Hartley and Tom James are seeking volunteer caretakers to inhabit a geodesic dome built from scrap materials at the centre of The Clearing, to help bring their vision of the future to life.
18 March- 17 December, Compton Verney. www.the-clearing.info/

Journeys through gallery education and learning
As part of the annual Tate Exchange programme working with artists and partner organisations to ‘collaborate, test ideas and discover new perspectives on life, through art’, engage is hosting a series of peer-led sharing workshops, including this public event aimed at anyone interested in working in gallery or visual arts education, or who are curious about learning and education in galleries and want to find out more.
21 March, 4-6pm, Switch House, Tate Modern, London. engage.org

Howard Hodgkin: Absent Friends
This is the first exhibition of portraits by 1985 Turner Prize winner Howard Hodgkin. It features his usual mix of rich colours, illusionistic spaces and abstraction.
23 March – 18 June, National Portrait Gallery, London.
www.npg.org.uk

No Boundaries
The third installment of Arts Council England’s No Boundaries conference will explore ideas and concepts relating to political, social and economic developments in the world, delivered via live link between two venues in Manchester and Hull. The conference also forms part of the programme for Hull UK City of Culture 2017.
28-29 March, HOME, Manchester and Truck Theatre, Hull. www.artscouncil.org.uk

The Studio & The Sea
A season of two exhibitions exploring the ceramics studio, the ocean and the landscape. First up, Jessica Warboys uses film, performance and her specially commissioned Sea Paintings, to investigate myth, symbolism and the landscape. The second show, ‘That Continuous Thing’, explores 100 years of the modern ceramics studio.
31 March – 3 September, Tate St Ives, Cornwall.
www.tate.org.uk

APRIL
LOOK/17
Now on its fourth edition, Liverpool’s biennial international photography festival presents a programme of exhibitions, workshops and talks. This year’s edition will focus on exchange with China, welcoming Chinese photographers and exploring images taken in Hong Kong and Liverpool.
7 April – 14 May, various venues, Liverpool.
www.lookphotofestival.com

Documenta 14
The latest edition of Documenta sees artistic director Adam Szymczyk dividing the event between its base in Kassel (where it first took place in 1955) and the Greek capital Athens. The dual exhibition has been given the working title of ‘Documenta 14: Learning From Athens’, with Szymczyk saying geographic identity and immigration issues will inform the show.
8 April – 16 July, Athens, Greece; 10 June – 17 September, Kassel, Germany
.
www.documenta14.de/en/
a-n Artist members can apply for our Documenta Bursaries to attend the preview days of the Kassel exhibition on 7-9 June. Deadline: 12 noon Thursday 12 January 2017.

SUPERMARKET 2017
This international fair for artist-run galleries and other artists’ initiatives is organised by a small group, most of whom are artists themselves. Since 2007 it has featured representatives from over 50 countries, with the resulting event a direct reaction to developments in the commercial art fair market.
23-26 April, Svarta Huset, Telefonplan, Stockholm, Sweden.
www.supermarketartfair.com

Annual Conference: Please Specify!
The Society for Artistic Research (SAR) is an international, non-profit organisation that disseminates artistic research in order to create knowledge and insight. Its annual conference will explore new perspectives on conditions of sharing research in the artistic field.
28-29 April, University of the Arts, Helsinki, Finland.
www.researchcatalogue.net

The Other Art Fair
The ‘artist-led’ fair that enables artists to showcase their work to gallerists, curators, critics and collectors, returns for its 15th edition. Over 130 emerging artists have been selected for the fair.
30 March – 2 April, Victoria House, London.
www.theotherartfair.com

MAY
Contemporary Art Society Annual Conference
This annual conference organised by the Contemporary Art Society explores how museums can work to engage with wider audiences and add value to their displays. It will look at strategies including inviting artists to curate collections and innovative partnerships to open collections to new audiences through digital technologies.
Date and venue tbc.
www.contemporaryartsociety.org

The London Original Print Fair
Held at the Royal Academy of Arts, the London Original Print Fair is London’s longest running art fair. It features a vast array of printmaking, ranging from old woodcuts by Dürer to the latest works by contemporary artists.
4-7 May, Royal Academy of Arts, London.
www.londonprintfair.com

Venice Biennale
The 57th edition of the world’s most famous art biennale will be curated by Christine Macel, chief curator at Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou. Titled ‘Viva Arte Viva’, there will be a particular focus on creating dialogue between visitors and the artists exhibiting through a special programme of meetings and events. This year’s British Pavilion features Phyllida Barlow, while Scotland + Venice is represented by Rachel Maclean and Wales in Venice by James Richards.
13 May – 26 November, various venues, Venice, Italy.
www.labiennale.org
a-n Artist members can apply for our Venice Biennale Bursaries to attend the preview days on 10-12 May. Deadline: 12 noon Thursday 12 January 2017.

California
This show looks at how user interface designers in the Bay Area are shaping some of our most common daily experiences. Picking up the story in the 1960s, the exhibition charts the journey from the counterculture to Silicon Valley’s tech culture.
24 May – 15 October, The Design Museum, London.
www.designmuseum.org

JUNE
Münster Sculpture Project
Inaugurated in 1977, following a public debate about whether or not the city in northern Germany should accept a sculpture by Henry Moore, the Münster Sculpture Project has subsequently taken place every ten years, with public spaces throughout the city hosting newly commissioned works by invited artists. For this fifth edition, curators Kasper König, Britta Peters and Marianne Wagner have commissioned thirty works ranging from classical sculpture to performative art that explore the relationship between art, public space and the urban environment.
10 June – 1 October, various locations across Münster. www.skulptur-projekte.de

Sheela Gowda
Indian artist Sheela Gowda is known for transforming everyday materials through hand-worked processes. Her new installation at Ikon will respond to the gallery’s architecture, with the work ‘exploring her uneasiness with the status quo, especially with respect to women and others marginalised by injustice’.
14 June – 3 September, Ikon, Birmingham.
www.ikon-gallery.org

Momentum 9
Nordic Biennial for Contemporary Art. As in previous years the festival is centred on presenting the work of Scandinavian artists, although the 2017 edition will not be limited to the Nordic region.
17 June – 27 September, multiple venues, Moss, Norway.
www.momentum.no

Sargent: The Watercolours
This is the first UK show in nearly 100 years devoted to watercolours by the Anglo-American artist, John Singer Sargent. Bringing together 80 paintings from private and public collections, it offers an alternative perspective on the artist.
21 June – 8 October, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London.
www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk

The Playground Project & Assemble
This exhibition will bring together play and archival display, creating a living playground in which children (and adults) can run, hide, climb and imagine. It will also include a new commission with art and architecture collective Assemble.
29 June – 3 September, Arnolfini, Bristol.
www.arnolfini.org.uk

Manchester International Festival
The biennial festival sees original, new work and special events taking place at venues across Manchester, with the 2017 edition being the first under new director John McGrath. Artists taking part include Boris Charmatz, Yael Bartana, and Jeremy Deller.
29 June -16 July, various venues, Manchester.
www.mif.co.uk

International Ceramics Festival
One of the UK’s most important ceramics events, this three-day festival has brought together ceramic artists, working potters, teachers, students, collectors and amateurs since it began in 1987. Stands, exhibitions, demonstrations and lectures attract over 1,000 people annually with tickets often selling out in advance.
30 June – 2 July, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth.
www.internationalceramicsfestival.org

BALTIC Artists’ Award exhibition
This new award is the first worldwide biennial art award to be judged solely by artists. Monica Bonvicini, Mike Nelson, Pedro Cabrita Reis, and Lorna Simpson will each select an emerging artist, with each being awarded a 13-week exhibition at Baltic, £25,000 to create new work and a £5,000 fee.
30 June – 1 October, Baltic, Gateshead.
www.balticmill.com

JULY
Edinburgh Art Festival
Now in its 13th year, this annual festival brings together the Scottish capital’s leading galleries, museums and artist-run spaces, alongside new public art commissions by established and emerging artists. Around 90% of the festival is free to attend.
27 July – 27 August, various venues, Edinburgh.
www.edinburghartfestival.com

AUGUST
International Festival of Glass
This festival celebrates the glass industry, featuring a mix of lectures, workshops, exhibitions, taster sessions and family activities, as well as food and drink across the individual festival sites.
25 – 28 August, various venues, Stourbridge.
www.ifg.org.uk

SEPTEMBER
Rachel Whiteread
This retrospective marks 25 years of Rachel Whiteread’s sculpture practice. Known for using industrial materials such as plaster, concrete, resin, rubber and metal to cast the surfaces and volume in and around everyday objects and architectural space, Whiteread was the first woman to win the Turner Prize in 1993.
12 September – 4 February 2018, Tate Britain, London.
www.tate.org.uk

Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival
The 13th edition of this international celebration of the art of film will once again transform the border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed into one big cinema screen. Expect film premieres, site-specific installations and live events.
20 – 24 September, various venues, Berwick-upon-Tweed. www.berwickfilm-artsfest.com

British Ceramics Biennial
This major celebration of ceramics and ceramic art returns to the Potteries for another instalment, with full details yet to be announced.
23 September – 5 November, The Original Spode Factory Site, Stoke. www.britishceramicsbiennial.com

Turner Prize
Expect a hotly debated shortlist, an emerging odds-on favourite, and a shock underdog victory as the Turner Prize heads to Ferens Art Gallery in Hull as part of the UK City of Culture celebrations.
26 September – 7 January 2018, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull.
www.hull2017.co.uk

The Manchester Contemporary
The self-styled largest fair of critically engaged visual art outside of London returns to Manchester for its seventh edition.
28 September – 1 October, Old Granada Studios, Manchester.
www.themanchestercontemporary.co.uk

Folkestone Triennial
This exhibition is the flagship project of the Creative Foundation, an independent arts charity dedicated to enabling the regeneration of the seaside town of Folkestone through creative activity. Around twenty major artworks are commissioned for each Triennial, with up to ten remaining in place around the town permanently.
2 September – 5 November, various venues, Folkestone
www.folkestonetriennial.org.uk

OCTOBER
Frieze London
Billing itself as the ‘contemporary art event of the year’, Frieze London (and the smaller Frieze Masters) features over 1,000 international artists and 170 galleries. As usual the main exhibition is complemented by a popular programme of talks, events and special commissions.
5 – 8 October, Regent’s Park, London.
www.frieze.com

NOVEMBER
engage International Conference 2017
The 2017 edition of gallery education advocacy and support organisation engage’s annual conference will take place in Hull to coincide with the UK City of Culture celebrations. Further details and the conference theme will be announced later in the year.
Dates and full venue details tbc engage.org

Jacqueline Donachie
Glasgow artist Jacqueline Donachie and Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket Gallery were awarded the inaugural Freelands Award for women artists, with this solo show of new and existing work being the result. With a total value of £100,000, £25,000 of the prize money is paid directly to the artist, enabling Donachie to focus on creating work for this important exhibition.
1 November – 11 February 2018, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh. www.fruitmarket.co.uk

Lumiere
Producers Artichoke bring their iconic light festival to Durham, transforming the city’s urban landscape with installations by international artists.
16 – 19 November, various venues, Durham.
www.lumiere-festival.com

Send us your updates for the Arts calendar 2017 – tweet to #artscalendar2017 or email [email protected]

Images:
1. Lubaina Himid, Le Rodeur: Exchange, 2016. Courtesy the artist and Hollybush Gardens
2. Bedwyr Williams, Tyrrau Mawr, film still, 2016, featured in Artes Mundi 7 exhibition. Photo: Polly Thomas
3. Jaye Moon, My Neighborhood, 2005, Lego  Plexiglas. Courtesy: Hanmi Gallery; See London Art Fair, Art Projects
4. Artist James Richards, selected for Wales in Venice 2017
5. International Ceramics Festival
6. Rachel Whiteread, Untitled (Stairs), 2001. © Rachel Whiteread

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