Hayward Gallery Touring has tapped curator and writer Ekow Eshun to steer the British Art Show 10, opening September 2026 in Coventry before rolling out to Swansea, Bristol, Sheffield, and Newcastle Gateshead. Marking the exhibition’s most ambitious geographic reach since its 1979 inception, this edition will occupy multiple venues per city—from Coventry’s Herbert Art Gallery to Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art—showcasing work that’s emerged across the UK since 2021.
Eshun brings a track record of reframing British visual culture through projects like In the Black Fantastic (Hayward Gallery) and The Time is Always Now (National Portrait Gallery). His approach—interrogating identity, myth, and collective memory—aligns with the show’s legacy of capturing cultural shifts. Past editions introduced audiences to now-canonical figures: David Hockney’s pop experiments in 1979, Rachel Whiteread’s casts in 1990, Jeremy Deller’s folk interventions in 2000.
This iteration doubles as a centrepiece of Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary programming, though its actual test lies beyond London. With 40% of attendees typically first-time gallery visitors, BAS10 continues Hayward Touring’s mission of decentralising contemporary art—even as its roster of satellite venues (including Bristol’s Arnolfini and Sheffield’s Site Gallery) underscores regional infrastructures under strain.
Ekow Eshun says: “It is a great honour to be appointed curator of the British Art Show, an exhibition that has long played a pivotal role in shaping and reflecting the discourse of contemporary art in the UK. I am thrilled by the opportunity to engage with artists whose practices speak powerfully to our time, and to craft a show that invites reflection, provokes dialogue, and expands the ways we engage with art in Britain today.”
Tour Dates & Venues:
Coventry (Sep 2026): The Herbert, Mead Gallery
Swansea (Jan 2027): Glynn Vivian, Elysium Gallery
Bristol (May 2027): Arnolfini, Spike Island
Sheffield (Sep 2027): Millennium Gallery, Site Gallery
Newcastle-Gateshead (Jan 2028): BALTIC, Laing Art Gallery
No pressure—just the weight of 2.3 million past visitors and a nation’s artistic conscience.
Top Photo: P C Robinson © Artlyst 2025
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