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20/20

20/20 was an ambitious 3-year programme announced by the Decolonising Arts Institute in November 2021, with funding from Freelands Foundation, Arts Council England and UAL. It has been shortlisted for the 2026 Museums + Heritage Sector Impact Award.

Combining artist residencies with artistic commissioning at scale, 20/20 has brought together 20 emerging/mid-career artists of colour and 20 UK public art collections, leading to 20 new permanent acquisitions and a 20/20 print portfolio. Explore the project at 2020.arts.ac.uk.

20/20: Futures, a collaboration between DeAI and London College of Fashion cultural programme team, featured an exhibition with all 20 artists, an 'after dark' event and a one-day symposium.  View the 20/20: Futures programme catalogue

Summary

A national commissioning and network project led by the Decolonising Arts Institute to catalyse artists’ careers and change in collections.

This work responds to urgent calls for action within arts and culture, to tackle social inequities and racial injustices amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the wake of Black Lives Matter. The programme will support ethnically diverse artists to take up residencies with public art collections across the country; leading to the collections’ permanent acquisition of new commissioned works, a series of commissioned texts; and a public programme bringing artists, curators and writers into conversation.

The project will directly invest in the development of a new generation of ethnically diverse artists who may identify as black, brown, or as people of colour.

Aims

20/20 sets out to build stronger relationships between artists and UK collections. It will support inclusive engagement between artists, collections and the communities they serve, to generate richer understanding of collections’ histories and the contributions of under-represented or overlooked artists in their midst.

We will work with each collection partner to support the artists’ development and wellbeing through peer and institutional networks, engaging in curatorial and practice/research dialogues. 20/20 will also encourage mutual critical exchange across collections, artists and communities, to continue beyond the project.

View of an exhibition at the London College of Fashion
20/20: Futures, exhibition photography by Mitsi Moulson Studio. Artworks clockwise from far left: Jessica Ashman, 2025, Juba; Bind Vora, 2024, Expressions in your histories, Overshadow my memory, We dream to travel beyond all doubts - Beyond everything, Longing for another dance between the trees, always in spite of everything, Hands outstretched, rooted and entangled. Look up... wait for it, ; Madi Acharya-Baskerville, 2023-24,Nipple Caught, Lustre Pattern 1-2, Take Possession, On Being Purple, behind the Bonnet, Palace Design, Tongue Tied; Yuen Fong Ling, 2024, Monumentalise; Zoe Zo, Zoe Tumika, Zoe Guthrie, 2024, THE TRICKSTER, MHM; Jamila Prowse, 2023, Crip Quilt

20/20: Futures exhibition

  • View of the front of a building
    20/20: Futures, exhibition photography by Mitsi Moulson Studio.
  • View of a gallery space
    20/20: Futures, exhibition photography by Mitsi Moulson Studio. Artworks clockwise from far left: Zoe Zo, Zoe Tumika, Zoe Guthrie, 2024, THE TRICKSTER; MHM; PART 2: FORGET NEVER FOREVER ALWAYS. Aqsa Arif, 2023, Anam Ki Almari (The Trophy Cupboard). Adham Faramawi, 2024, The Cyclamen and the Cedar.
  • Exhibition space featuring sketches, fabric samples and photographs
    20/20: Futures, exhibition photography by Mitsi Moulson Studio. Artworks: Holly Graham, 2024, The Warp/ The Weft/ The Wake: Work in Progress.
  • Image of gallery space
    20/20: Futures, exhibition photography by Mitsi Moulson Studio. Artworks: Christopher Samuel, 2024-25, Watch Us Lead, Pray For Me - sample.
  • Image of a gallery space featuring a large painting of a moth
    20/20: Futures, exhibition photography by Mitsi Moulson Studio. Artworks: Karen McLean, 2024, Stitching Souls: Threads of silence.
  • View of an exhibition gallery space featuring text and makes in frames
    20/20: Futures, exhibition photography by Mitsi Moulson Studio. Artworks: Karen McLean, 2024, Stitching Souls: Threads of silence.
  • A variety of woven and ceramic objects suspended on a wall
    20/20: Futures, exhibition photography by Mitsi Moulson Studio. Artworks from far left: Madi Acharya-Baskerville, 2023-24, Nipple Caught; Lustre Pattern 1-2; Take Possession; On Being Purple; Behind the Bonnet; Palace Design; Tongue Tied.
  • Gallery space featuring decorative tiles and a sketch book
    20/20: Futures, exhibition photography by Mitsi Moulson Studio. Artworks: Hannah Sabapathy, 2024, The Counterparts – Samples.
  • Sheer printed fabric layered over a stand
    20/20: Futures, exhibition photography by Mitsi Moulson Studio. Artworks clockwise from far left: Jessica Ashman, 2025, Juba; Rebellion Abundant in all Parts; Afiba; All Power Emanates From The Land.
  • View of three exhibition pieces featuring a woman in a red dress and very long plait that stretches out across the floor
    20/20: Futures, exhibition photography by Mitsi Moulson Studio. Artworks: Sarah Maple, 2024, Plait Performance, Cartwright Hall – Upper Gallery; Plait Performance, Cartwright Hall – Storage, Plait Performance, Cartwright Hall – Painting.
  • Metallic model of industrial building with a melted plate on top
    20/20: Futures, exhibition photography by Mitsi Moulson Studio. Artworks: Billy Dosanjh, 2024, Flop H-100 E: Neural Surge.
  • View of an exhibition video installation screen and headphones
    20/20: Futures, exhibition photography by Mitsi Moulson Studio. Artwork: Adham Faramawi, 2024, The Cyclamen and the Cedar.
  • Pink ribbons tied on a metal grate
    20/20: Futures, exhibition photography by Mitsi Moulson Studio. Artworks: Cora Sehgal Cuthbert, 2025, a prayer for Coventry, life starts here (forever).
  • Two colourful stitched together masks inside a golden frame in front of a painting
    20/20: Futures, exhibition photography by Mitsi Moulson Studio. Artworks: Karen McLean, 2024, Stitching Souls: Threads of silence; Replica of George Case (1747-1836), first exhibitied in 1830 by Thomas Philips (1770-1845).
  • Multiple sketches of a male figure on aged paper with text
    20/20: Futures, exhibition photography by Mitsi Moulson Studio. Artworks: Habib Hajallie, 2023, The Large Collectors
  • Gallery space with speakers on curved stands
    20/20: Futures, exhibition photography by Mitsi Moulson Studio. Artworks: Shenece Oretha, 2023, TOLLED.
  • A person wearing a large ornamental headdress in front of a crowd of people at night
    The Dissolution Guild (documentation), Gayle Chong Kwan, 2025. Photography: Alice Zoo

20/20 partners

  • Birmingham Museums Trust
  • The Box, Plymouth
  • Bradford District Museums and Galleries
  • Bristol Museum and Art Gallery
  • Compton Verney, Warwickshire
  • Harris Museum, Preston
  • The Hepworth Wakefield
  • The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry
  • Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Glasgow
  • Kettle's Yard, Cambridge
  • Leeds Art Gallery
  • The Lightbox, Woking
  • Manchester Art Gallery
  • MIMA (Middlesbrough Museum of Modern Art)
  • National Disability Arts Collection and Archive (NDACA)
  • National Museums NI (Ulster Museum)
  • Pallant House Gallery, Chichester
  • Sheffield Museums Trust
  • Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool
  • Wolverhampton Art Gallery

20/20 artists

Cohort 1

Cohort 2

20/20 team

Project Director

Project Producer

Project Assistant

  • Ramatoulie Bobb

More to explore

  • Small girl interacting with artwork in a gallery
    Walker Family in British Art room © Mark McNulty. Courtesy of Art Fund

    Catalysing artists’ careers and change in collections

    Read about how 20/20 responds to urgent calls for action within arts and culture.

  • Gallery with placards made out of magazines
    Sonia Boyce, Devotional Wallpaper and Placards, 2008-2020. Acquired by the Contemporary Art Society for the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA) through the Rapid Response Fund, 2020.

    Projects

    Learn about Decolonising Arts Institute activities.

  • Pamphlets and booklets on a table.
    Image: Daniel Day, AHRC Black Artists and Modernism project, David Medalla Study Day. Image: Daniel Day

    About us

    Find out more about our vision and ambitions for decolonising arts.