At the New Art Exchange (NAE), we embarked on a journey of transformation last year, reflecting on what it means to deliver our ambition to become a blueprint for citizen-led galleries.
One of the areas we wanted to question was how we select and choose artists for our main exhibitions. Our key question was how to create a fair and equitable process that opens the doors to a new generation of voices and talent. We wanted to align this process with our mission to promote Global Ethnic Majority creativity and innovation nationally and globally.
With our Exhibit programme and for the first time, we invited artists to apply to take part in our main exhibitions in the Main Gallery through an open call. The response was overwhelming, with hundreds of applications from artists wanting to showcase their work at NAE. Our selection process was twofold. Initially, a diverse group from our team reviewed the applications, assessing their potential and alignment with NAE’s mission. From this, we shortlisted 16 applications for a more in-depth review. This is where our innovative approach truly took shape.
Citizen-Led Decision Making
With a new approach, NAE introduced a citizen-led panel as a core component of our final selection process. This panel comprised twelve individuals with diverse expertise and experiences, reflecting the rich tapestry of our community. From curators to artists and technicians to different members of our neighbouring community, all with a Global Ethnic Majority lived experience. This diversity of thoughts and perspectives was our assurance, ensuring that our future exhibitions were delivering both excellence and relevance. The panel members spent a full day deliberating -not debating- the applications, guided by three key questions: Potential, Engagement, and Viability. The panel noted that the provocations were essential in forcing them to reconsider each proposal, covering the following aspects, which ensured comprehensive assessments.
- Potential: The panel considered the artist’s journey, current skills, and future contributions. They reflected on what made the project artistically significant on a national and global scale, ensuring alignment with NAE’s mission.
- Engagement: The panel explored how the exhibition concept could engage and resonate with both local and global communities. They focused on fostering relationships and ensuring the project aligned with NAE’s mission to promote artistic engagement and cultural exchange.
- Viability: The panel assessed the project’s feasibility within budget, space, and time constraints. They considered the resources required for successful execution and deliberated on applications needing additional funding.
We are grateful to the citizen-led panel, which comprised from right to left of Remini Page, Priya Mistry, Janhavi Sharma, Jagdish Patel, Panya Banjoko, Tom Harris, Neelum Aftab, Eva Langret, Justin Carey, Chans Fagan, Adelaide Bannerman and Ismail Khokon.
A Day of Deliberation
Our D-Day, chaired by Sandeep, acting as an independent chair, was a testament to the power of collective decision-making. The day began with introductions and context-setting, followed by roundtable deliberations. Panel members discussed, deliberated, and captured insights on each artist’s application. Feedback from the panel indicated that the anonymous feedback rounds significantly contributed to open and honest discussions, with some jurors giving it a perfect score. Feedback was gathered at each stage, allowing for reflection and refinement. Throughout the day, the panel engaged in a dynamic process of feedback and voting, using tools such as artist profiles and post-its. The panel highlighted that artist profiles were a valuable reference during deliberations, and post-its allowed for capturing and sharing quick thoughts, although not all participants found them necessary. They explored emerging themes and asked probing questions, ensuring every voice was heard. The anonymous voting process ensured fairness and transparency, leading to the selection of a series of exhibitions that will take place in NAE’s main gallery over the next two years.
A Blueprint for Change
Our approach was not just about selecting artists. It was about starting to internally articulate a question around how we can develop a blueprint for major galleries nationally and internationally to ensure that our exhibitions embrace and embed a fair and equitable agenda when it comes to accessing major opportunities. By introducing the Exhibit programme, we wanted to make sure that we hear from a wider pool of artists and curators. By harnessing the diverse expertise of our citizen panel, we wanted to ensure that our exhibitions were relevant to a wide audience and upheld the highest standards of excellence. We started to develop a model that reflected our mission, achieved operational excellence, and resonated with our local community’s needs and aspirations. This work echoes the ethos that led us to integrate a permanent citizen assembly as a core part of our leadership structure, we are pushing beyond participation and co-creation to explore how real citizen leadership and decision-making can reshape cultural institutions.
Learning and Reflection
Through this process, we gained great insights and identified areas for reflection to continue strengthening our approach. Panel feedback indicated that time constraints were a challenge, and mixing groups could enhance dynamic discussions. However, the panel also felt that the overall process was positive and a step forward from the status quo. We recognized the need to enhance access, ensuring that more voices can participate in this transformative journey. We also aim to deepen the engagement and reach of our initiatives, striving to connect with an even broader audience. These reflections will guide our future efforts as we work to make the next Exhibit callout more inclusive and impactful.
This journey was not without challenges, learnings, and failures. However, it was filled with milestones of celebration and moments of profound reflection. We are inspired by the potential of citizen-led curatorial practice and excited about how the journey will continue unfolding in the future. Our aspiration is simple: a community where citizens drive and define culture. We hope this is another key step in achieving this ambition.
Here are the selected artists:
Mohammad Barrangi: The Last Rain in Wonderland
19 October 2024 – 25 January 2025
Mohammad Barrangi is an Iranian-born, UK-based artist whose work spans print, murals, and sculpture. His art draws from Persian aesthetics and explores themes of migration, change, and the global climate crisis. “The Last Rain in Wonderland” presents new and existing works in a vibrant space that blends Western and Eastern imagery, featuring women, animals, and mythological creatures inspired by Iranian iconography. Barrangi uses pioneering 3D-printing technology to bring these characters to life, including a life-sized Iranian water buffalo emerging from sand, symbolizing the impact of climate change on native animals and communities in southern Iran. The exhibition also includes scenes of lush greenery, representing hope and resilience. A life-sized ballerina dances through the sand, embodying human survival against adversity. Through his art, Barrangi invites visitors into a wonderland where imagination blurs with reality, emphasizing that change is possible if we act now.
Follow this artist on his social media here.
Quilla Constance: Activating Intersections
October 2026 – January 2027
Quilla Constance (aka QC) is a British interdisciplinary artist, lecturer and TV personality who uses her work to challenge power structures. QC’s exhibition, titled Activating Intersections, will feature large-scale paintings and costume installations exploring the performative nature of identity within hegemonic frameworks. Activating Intersections seeks to harness carnivalesque play, anarcho-punk feminism, exoticism, and absurdist humour as tools to dismantle inequalities and empower marginalised communities, such as the Global Ethnic Majority, women, working-class individuals, and LGBTQ+ individuals.
Photo by Quilla Constance
Follow this artist on his social media here.
Nate Coltrane: Our Yard Presents The Blues Room
February – April 2026
“Our Yard Presents The Blues Room” is an exhibition curated by Nathaniel Coltrane, the creative director and founder of Mimm, a Black-led creative community in Nottingham. The exhibition explores the impact of sound system culture on the UK over the decades through clothing, interviews, screenings, and workshops. By recreating domestic spaces and showcasing historical ephemera, the exhibition highlights the significance of blues parties in the West Indian community. A vintage sound system inspired by Jamaican influences and Coltrane’s love of Japanese listening rooms offers an interactive experience for visitors, immersing them in the rich history and culture of sound systems. “The Blues Room” serves as a testament to the power of music and community in shaping cultural identities and fostering connections. Through this exhibition, Coltrane aims to celebrate the enduring legacy of sound system culture and its role in bringing people together through music, fashion, and art.
Follow this artist on his social media here.
If you would like any further information on how we developed our EXHIBIT model, please feel free to get in touch with Saad Eddine Said, CEO and Artistic Director, saad@nae.org.uk