The artist list and themes have been announced for the next British Art Show—billed as the largest and most significant recurring exhibition of contemporary art in the UK—which will tour five UK cities over the next two years.
The tenth edition (British Art Show 10) under the curator Ekow Eshun is entitled A Chorus of Strangers and asks “what forms might empathy or shared imagination take” in turbulent political times, a statement says. It adds that the show will “provide a vital overview of the most exciting art produced in the UK during the past five years”.
The influential exhibition launched in 1979 and takes place every five years, with the next edition due to open in Coventry this autumn (2 October–10 January 2027), before travelling to various venues in four other cities until June 2028. The show is developed and produced by Hayward Gallery Touring, a contemporary art organisation producing touring exhibitions that is part of the Southbank Centre in London.
Eshun has chosen works by 30 artists such as Alex Margo Arden, Liz Johnson Artur, Alvaro Barrington, Shiraz Bayjoo, Lubna Chowdhary, Shawanda Corbett, Jesse Darling, Lindsey Mendick and Osman Yousefzada. The artist roster sparked debate online: “pertinent topic and a sterling selection,” said one commentator on Instagram while another noted: “Where are Barbara Walker, Claudette Johnson and Phoebe Boswell?”
Eshun, the curator of the exhibition In the Black Fantastic at the Hayward Gallery in 2022, is the former director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. His curatorial vision for British Art Show 10 centres on three themes inspired by renowned writers and theorists: “Moments of Being”, inspired by Virginia Woolf, spotlights dreams, memory and the subconscious; “Ways of Living” looks at how politics and history effect culture and identity, drawing on the ideas of the academic Stuart Hall, who was dubbed the “godfather of multiculturalism”; and finally, “States of Nature” is inspired by the philosopher Timothy Morton’s call for a “greater awareness of our relationship with the environment”.
The British Art Show 10 venues are: The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Mead Gallery and Coventry University, Coventry (2 October–10 January 2027); Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Elysium Gallery, GS Artists, Mission Gallery and Volcano Theatre, Swansea (12 February–16 May 2027); Arnolfini, Spike Island, Bristol Museum and RWA Bristol, Bristol (19 June–19 September 2027); Millennium Gallery, Graves Gallery, Site Gallery, Yorkshire Artspace and Arts Catalyst, Sheffield (23 October 2027–20 February 2028); Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle Contemporary Art, Laing Art Gallery and Shipley Art Gallery, Newcastle and Gateshead (24 March–18 June 2028).