Curated by Dr Sara Choudhrey, ELEMENTS 2026 presented an exhibition encouraging visitors to rethink what they know of abstraction, who it is produced by, how it may be used as a source of meaning-making, a form of documentation or as a visual language.

ELEMENTS 2026 brought together a group of 12 artists whose works demonstrate what abstraction speaks to today and its continuity within a longer, global timeline. They explore cultural, spiritual and spatial encounters, with themes of migration, loss, grief, healing, love, intrigue, self-reflection, place and space. These themes were presented through pigment painting, sound installation, animation, woodwork, sculpture, textile art, and more.

In this exhibition the connections artists have with their surroundings, their material world, and people, leaves an imprint of continued reflection and a sense of the human experience in all its forms.

Exhibiting Artists

ELEMENTS Online Exhibition

Abstraction has never been limited by scope of geography and neither should your experience of viewing the ELEMENTS exhibition. Accessibility has always been a big part of ELEMENTS so we offer an online gallery as an alternative viewing experience for those who cannot make it in person.

Presented through a 3D virtual gallery, our online exhibiton features even more work by our artists. You can browse the gallery at your own pace or follow an automated virtual tour. You can click on each work to find out more about the themes and methods behind them, read more about the artists, their practice, and follow them to see what else they're working on in future.

Workshops for local communities

Alongside our exhibition, we were pleased to offer a number of exciting, fun and best of all, free, creative workshops for local residents and community members. Participants had a hand at creating their own artworks using shapes, lines, painting and weaving. They gained an insider's perspective on both the creative and technical aspects of art-making through the guidance of professional artists.

We also held curator tours for a first-hand account of some of the thoughts and ideas behind the ELEMENTS project and a workshop on how we can decolonise artistic and curatorial practice.

We were particularly keen to offer workshops to those in the local community who may not usually have access to creating and learning within the arts, those from underepresented communities, and those from marginilized or global majority backgrounds.

Our workshops included: