20/20

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.

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.