Launching in Coventry in October 2026 before touring to Swansea, Bristol, Sheffield and Newcastle Gateshead, Ekow Eshun’s curatorial vision will bring together over 30 artists to provide a vital overview of the most exciting art produced in the UK duringthe past five years,

 

As the UK’s largest recurring contemporary art exhibition, British Art Show 10 is produced by Hayward Gallery Touring and forms a key part of the Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary national programme. Mark Ball, Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre, says: “For 75 years, the Southbank Centre has traced the creative pulse of a changing country through a programme that reflects the times we live in. The landmark tenth British Art Show, travelling to more cities than ever before, continues this legacy, inviting the nation to reconsider today’s major issues through the eyes of the most interesting artists working in Britain. Drawing on the spirit of the 1951 Festival of Britain, where our story began, Ekow Eshun’s concept dares us to imagine a more connected future in divided times. I look forward to seeing these vital conversations unfolding across the UK.”

British Art Show 10: A Chorus of Strangers takes place against a backdrop of heightened anxiety intensified by a divisive political culture, an accelerating climate crisis, and growing public distrust in institutions. In polarising times, the exhibition asks: what forms might empathy or shared imagination take? At its core, A Chorus of Strangers considers how art can challenge fears of otherness and difference often sparked in periods of uncertainty or change. Rather than framing the outsider or stranger figure as a threat, British Art Show 10 invites a shift towards empathy - moving away from rigid distinctions of “us” and “them” to explore the variety of perspectives that comes from looking through the eyes of others.