The Future is Loading / Shape Open 2020
Set against an uncertain and restless backdrop, where risk of greater exclusion battles with unique opportunities for change, is this digital exhibition of marginalised artists from Shape Arts. Featuring artists based primarily in the UK, Canada, and USA, it reminds us to question whose ‘normal’ the ‘new normal’ might be.
The exhibition is available to view on Shape’s website and Instagram, with all works in the show also audio described. Shape has also published information on Trigger Warnings and Access. Artists include: Andrew Omoding, Arts Emergency, Babeworld x Whinegums, Bobby Parker, Brothers Sick (Ezra and Noah Benus), Charlie J. Meyers, Christopher Samuel, Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, Elise Broadway, Hayden Stern, Jeff Kasper, Kirkwood Brothers, Laura Lulika, Maral Mamaghani, Panteha Abareshi, Romily Alice Walden, Rudy Loewe, Sasha Saben Callaghan, Sam Jevon, Seren Metcalfe, Tobi Adebajo, and Yasmeen Thantrey.
Online from 20 July 2020 www.shapearts.org.uk/news/the-future-is-loading-about-the-exhibition
Joana Vasconcelos: Beyond
Yorkshire Sculpture Park has reopened following lockdown, with new signage, one-way walking routes and social distancing and safety measures in place. The highlight of their current displays is celebrated Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos’ monumental sculpture, which uses fabric, needlework and crochet alongside everyday objects from saucepans to wheel hubs. Vasconcelos frequently uses items associated with domestic work and craft to comment from a feminist perspective on national and collective identity, cultural tradition and women’s roles in society.
Until 3 January 2021, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, ysp.org.uk/exhibitions/joanavasconcelos
Manthia Diawara
Organised by The Africa Institute in collaboration with Sharjah Art Foundation and the Royal College of Art, London, this programme presents a number of acclaimed films by renowned filmmakers, streaming for free on The Africa Institute website, as well as a series of online talks with the artists. It includes three films by Manthia Diawara: An Opera of the World, Edouard Glissant: One World in Relation, and Negritude: A conversation between Senghor and Wole Soyinka. The programme will conclude with a webinar moderated by Hoor Al Qasimi, which will feature Diawara, Adrian Lahoud, and Salah M. Hassan, Director of The Africa Institute.
28 July – 30 July 2020, The Africa Institute website www.theafricainstitute.org/events.php
Wysing Open Studios Online 2020
Bringing together 15 artists over five weeks plus various young artists working with Circuit Cambridge, Wysing Open Studios 2020 will showcase online works, panel discussions, live performances and more. In addition various events will be streamed live on Wysing’s Twitch channel, including an artists panel discussion on 5 August with artists Emanuela Cusin, Robert Foster, Bettina Furneé and Lucy Steggals. Other artists taking part in the open studios: Damaris Athene, Aliaskar Torkaliaskari, Elena Cologni, Philip Cornett, Lawrence Epps, Naomi Harwin, Penny Klein, Mae, Emma Smith, Soheila Sokhanvari and Caroline Wendling.
Until 16 August 2020 www.a-n.co.uk/events/wysing-open-studios-online-2020/
Go On Being So
Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange have announced they will be reopening their galleries on 8 August with social distancing and safety measures in place. Until then, enjoy a virtual 360 degree tour of their exhibition ‘Go On Being So’, which was curated by the MBA Collective, a group of art, photography and graphics students from Mounts Bay Academy aged between 12 and 16 years. Featuring works from the Arts Council Collection, it brings together an intriguing selection of works that ‘say something about the world today and their place in it’. Artists include: Michael Armitage, Larry Achiampong & David Blandy, Sarah Beddington, Rod Dickinson, Michelle Williams Gamaker, Margaret Harrison, Andrew Herman, Young In Hong, Claudette Johnson, Karl Ohiri, Joanna Piotrowska, Joanna Price, Mario Rossi, Ibrahim El-Salahi and Ross Sinclair.
Until 26 September 2020 www.newlynartgallery.co.uk/activities/go-on-being-so/
Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair
This year’s event has gone online and features the 160 designer-makers who had originally been selected to take part in the 2020 fair. The sale showcases the best in cutting edge design and beautiful crafts across a wide range of disciplines. From jewellery to fashion accessories, functional objects to statement pieces for the home, visitors will be able to buy unique pieces via the GNCCF website, and throughout the week new work, demonstrations, conversations and stories will be posted across social media.
25 – 31 July 2020, Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair www.greatnorthernevents.co.uk/homepage-gnccf.aspx
Images:
1. The Future is Loading / Shape Open 2020
2. Joana Vasconcelos, Solitaire, 2018. All photos courtesy: Yorkshire Sculpture Park
3. Wysing Open Studios
4. Karl Ohiri, How to Mend A Broken Heart, 2013. Courtesy: Arts Council Collection and South Bank Centre. Copyright: the artist
5. Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair banner
