Warwick Arts Centre to co-host opening of landmark 10th edition of British Art Show
Warwick Arts Centre will co-host the opening of British Art Show 10, the UK’s most important touring exhibition of contemporary art. The exhibition will open in Coventry in September 2026 before touring to Swansea, Bristol, Sheffield and Newcastle Gateshead.
The major presentation in Coventry will be held across Mead Gallery at Warwick Arts Centre, University of Warwick, the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum and Coventry University.
Developed and produced by Hayward Gallery Touring, which is part of the Southbank Centre, British Art Show has been showcasing the best in contemporary British art since 1979. Held every five years, it has introduced millions to artists who go on to shape the national and international art scene. Past editions have featured David Hockney, Tracey Emin, Anish Kapoor, and Sonia Boyce.
Sarah Shalgosky, Principal Curator at the University of Warwick, said: “We’re delighted that Mead Gallery at Warwick Arts Centre will play such a central role in launching British Art Show 10. It’s a fantastic opportunity to connect audiences in Coventry and the wider region with the most exciting contemporary art being made in the UK today. This is a moment of national significance – and we’re thrilled that it begins here at Warwick.”
This year’s curator, Ekow Eshun, is one of the UK’s most influential cultural figures. His past exhibitions include In the Black Fantastic at Hayward Gallery and The Time is Always Now at the National Portrait Gallery. For British Art Show 10, he will bring together artists whose work speaks to the social, political and cultural issues shaping Britain today.
Warwick Arts Centre’s involvement continues its strong track record of bringing major national exhibitions to Coventry and ensuring that contemporary art remains accessible and relevant to local communities.
Ekow Eshun, Curator of British Art Show 10, said: “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.”
Brian Cass, Head of Hayward Gallery Touring, adds: “Over its almost 50 year history British Art Show has been unrivalled in its artistic ambitions and national reach, each edition engaging with the most significant art of its time. Ekow Eshun has an extraordinary track record of making exhibitions that shape the conversation about art and culture and we are looking forward to the new perspectives he will bring to British Art Show 10, and working with our partners to expand the exhibitions reach and relevance for audiences in Coventry, Swansea, Bristol, Sheffield and Newcastle Gateshead."
Mark Ball, Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre, said: "The Southbank Centre was born as part of the Festival of Britain in 1951 - a nationwide celebration and ‘beacon of change’ showcasing the best in arts, technology and science; a look to a future filled with hope and optimism. As we near the Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary, we have sought real inspiration from the spirit of the Festival of Britain and the British Art Show is a quintessential example of this; presenting exciting and innovative artists that speak to our time to audiences across the country. We’re thrilled to be taking the British Art Show to more people and cities than ever before, collaborating with and supporting creative spaces across the UK and opening up contemporary art to as many people as possible.”
Further details about the artists and exhibition themes will be announced in 2026.
For more information on British Art Show 10 and all of its participating venues, please click here.
Images are available to download here.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
For more information on Warwick Art Centre’s participation, please contact:
Stevie Connoll
stevie.connoll@warwick.ac.uk / +44 (0)7824 540791
Image Credits
Top Left: Credit Dave Freak
Bottom Left: Credit Zeinab Batchelor
Bottom Right: Credit Andy Holden
Tour details (exact dates and touring venues to be confirmed):
- Coventry (September 2026)
- Swansea (Feb 2027)
- Bristol (June 2027)
- Sheffield (Oct 2027)
- Newcastle Gateshead (March 2028)
Article credit line: British Art Show 10 is a Hayward Gallery Touring exhibition and will launch in Coventry in September 2026 before touring to Swansea, Bristol, Sheffield and Newcastle Gateshead. southbankcentre.co.uk
About The University of Warwick
Founded in 1965, the University of Warwick is a world-leading institution known for its commitment to era-defining innovation across research and education. A connected ecosystem of staff, students and alumni, the University fosters transformative learning, interdisciplinary collaboration and bold industry partnerships across state-of-the-art facilities in the UK and global satellite hubs. Here, spirited thinkers push boundaries, experiment and challenge convention to create a better world.
Warwick Arts Centre and the Mead Gallery
Warwick Arts Centre is at the heart of the University of Warwick. It is the largest multi artform arts centre outside London with a concert hall, middle scale theatre, cinemas, studio spaces and the Mead Gallery.
The centre works closely with artists and communities of people to co-create and deliver a year-round programme of events, workshops and projects designed to engage and inspire children, families, young people and adults of all backgrounds.
The Mead Gallery is an exceptional space, formed of three large white cubes. Its programme is driven by enquiry into modern and contemporary art practice and often features new, commissioned work from artists.
Key exhibitions include Phyllida Barlow: STINT, an exhibition of ten new sculptures in 2008; The Indiscipline of Painting in 2012; Rana Begum: Dappled Light in 2022; Katrina Palmer: What’s already going on (commissioned work shortlisted for the Freelands Award) in 2023, Phantom Sculpture in 2024, Nicole Bachmann: There are Tides in the Body (commissioned work), 2024, Mao Ishikawa in 2025.
About Hayward Gallery Touring
Hayward Gallery Touring is the UK’s leading contemporary art organisation producing touring exhibitions. Based at Southbank Centre, Hayward Gallery Touring works with a range of artists, curators, designers and writers to develop curatorial projects and ambitious exhibitions that are often beyond the scope of a single institution.
Hayward Gallery Touring’s programme includes British Art Show—the largest and most significant exhibition of contemporary art produced in the UK—as well as thematic group shows and monographic exhibitions created for venues including museums, galleries, art centres, libraries, schools, hospitals and other unexpected partners and places.
Hayward Gallery Touring exhibitions are seen by up to half a million people in over 45 cities and towns each year.
About Southbank Centre
The Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest arts centre, occupying 11 acres along the river and its 4 venues anchor London’s most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames. We exist to present great cultural experiences that bring people together and we achieve this by providing the space for artists to create and present their best work and by creating a place where as many people as possible can come together to experience bold, unusual and eye-opening work. The site has an extraordinary creative and architectural history stretching back to the 1951 Festival of Britain. Southbank Centre is made up of the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery as well as being home to the National Poetry Library and the Arts Council Collection. It is also home to six Resident Orchestras (Aurora Orchestra, Chineke! Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Philharmonia Orchestra). www.southbankcentre.co.uk/
Website: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk
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About Ekow Eshun
Ekow Eshun is a writer and curator. He is Chairman of the Fourth Plinth, overseeing Britain’s foremost public art programme, and the former Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. He has staged acclaimed exhibitions internationally and was awarded the Association for Art History’s Curatorial Prize for the landmark exhibition, In the Black Fantastic at the Hayward Gallery in 2023. Eshun’s writing has been featured in publications including The New York Times, Financial Times, the Guardian and Vogue. He is the author of books including, most recently, The Strangers, published by Penguin in 2024 and longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and the Jhalak Prize, and Black Earth Rising: Colonialism and Climate Change in Contemporary Art, published by Thames & Hudson in 2025. He was a judge for the Turner Prize 2024 and a member of the jury for the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2024.
6 August 2025