20/20: Futures symposium

The 20/20: Futures symposium will bring together artists, partners and supporters to both celebrate and reflect on the many outcomes of 20/20 – an ambitious 3-year programme that took place between 2021 and 2024. The symposium will feature artists’ presentations and critical discussions focused on learnings from 20/20 one year on, with opportunities to experience the 20/20: Futures exhibition.

Combining artist residencies with artistic commissioning at scale, 20/20 sought to catalyse artists’ careers and change in collections. Between 2022 and 2024, 20 emerging and mid-career artists identifying as black, brown, Asian, global majority and/or people of colour, took up residencies with 20 public art collections, leading to 20 new permanent acquisitions and a 20/20 print portfolio gifted to each collection partner.

The one-day symposium will feature artists’ presentations and critical discussion focused on the learnings from 20/20 a year after the end of the project, and a chance to view the 20/20: Futures exhibition, featuring work from all 20 artists’ residencies across London College of Fashion, UAL’s East Bank ground floor gallery, mezzanine and lower ground spaces.

We look forward to sharing reflections on the individual and institutional changes catalysed by the 20/20 programme, as well as exploring ongoing challenges and future opportunities for collaboration.

PROGRAMME

09:15 Arrivals, refreshments (Mezannine)

10:00 WELCOME & INTRODUCTIONS (Lecture Theatre, M01)

Felicity Colman (LCF Dean of Research & Knowledge Exchange, Professor of Media Arts)

susan pui san lok (Professor of Contemporary Art, DeAI Director)

10:15 PANEL 1: DOING THE WORK

Introduced by Dr Anjalie Dalal-Clayton (DeAI Research Fellow)

Elinor Morgan (Artistic Director, MIMA)

Dr Inbal Livne (Senior Creative Lead, Manchester Art Gallery)

Lara Ratnaraja (Independent Consultant)

11:30 Break (Mezzanine)

12:00 PANEL 2: ARTISTS & COLLECTIONS (Lecture Theatre, M01)

Introduced by Ramatoulie Bobb (20/20 Project Assistant)

Yuen Fong Ling (artist, Sheffield Museum Trust)

Bindi Vora (artist, Ulster Museum, NMNI)

Shenece Oretha (artist, The Hepworth Wakefield)

Christopher Samuel (artist, Birmingham Museums Trust)

13:30 Lunch (Canteen, 10th Floor)

14:30 PANEL 3: ARTISTS & COLLECTIONS (Lecture Theatre, M01)

Introduced by Dr Martine Rouleau (DeAI 20/20 Producer)

Madi Acharya-Baskerville (artist, The Lightbox)

Jessica Ashman (artist, Bristol Museum and Art Gallery)

Holly Graham (artist, Manchester Art Gallery)

Billy Dosanjh (artist, Wolverhampton Art Gallery)

16:10 Break (Mezzanine)

16:30 PLENARY PANEL: CATALYSING CHANGE (Lecture Theatre, M01)

Introduced by Gaylene Gould (artist and Founder/Director of The Space to Come)

Mark Miller (Artist, Cultural Producer, Consultant)

Dr Ian Sargeant (Senior Curator Global Majority Collections · Birmingham Museum Trust)

Habda Rashid (Senior Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge)

17:30 CLOSE

17:30-19:00 Drinks Reception (Ground Floor)

20/20 artists are:

Adham Faramawy

Aqsa Arif

Billy Dosanjh

Bindi Vora

Christopher Samuel

Cora Sehgal Cuthbert

Curtis Holder

Gayle Chong Kwan

Habib Hajallie

Hannah Sabapathy

Holly Graham

Jamila Prowse

Jessica Ashman

Karen McLean

Madi Acharya-Baskerville

Sarah Maple

Shenece Oretha

Sonya Dyer

Yuen Fong Ling

Zoë Tumika

20/20 was led by artist susan pui san lok (UAL Professor in Contemporary Art and Director, Decolonising Arts Institute) and delivered with the 20/20 team (Martine Rouleau, Rebecca Gremmo, Ramatoulie Bobb and Maya Little), generously supported with funding from Freelands Foundation, Arts Council England and UAL.

20/20: Futures is an exhibition collaboratively developed by the Decolonising Arts Institute with the LCF Cultural Programming team and generously supported by the Cheng-Lan Foundation.

Visitor information

Address: London College of Fashion, 105 Carpenter’s Road, London, E20 2AR - how to find us. Watch this video on how to get to LCF from Stratford tube station on the stories highlights on Instagram. Stratford is widely connected, on both the Central and Elizabeth tube Lines as well as via overground train and bus services.

Accessibility information:

For full details on building access and facilities at London College of Fashion (Carpenter’s Road), please see our AccessAble guide: Access Guide.

There will be live captions displayed on two large side screens thorughout the symposium.

If you have any specific access needs, feel free to contact us. Taxi drop off is available for those with access needs; please see LCF’s website for more information.

Credits

Image 1: Holly Graham, The Warp/The Weft/The Wake Exhibition Launch, Courtesy of Manchester Art Gallery, Photographer: Ahmani Vidal

Image 2: Upper Gallery, Cartwright Hall, Sarah Maple 2024

Image 3: Gayle Chong Kwan, The Taotie 1st Annual Ritual, Photographer: Cliff Armstrong

Image 4: Aqsa Arif, The Trophy Cupboard, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum