As we begin a new season at New Art Exchange, we invite you to join us in a journey where art, identity and community converge to spark reflection, resilience and collective imagination. This autumn and winter, we present two major solo exhibitions. In Place of Fear by Simeon Barclay draws on pop culture, subcultures and the industrial landscapes of northern England to question how identity is shaped and performed. Alongside this, Heather Agyepong’s From Sunrise to Sunset, She Worked to Reform Herself: Part 1 reclaims rest as an act of resistance, exploring how tenderness, self-commitment and care can open new pathways of belonging. Together, these exhibitions open bold conversations on culture, memory and transformation.
Beyond our galleries, this season celebrates the power of gathering. Gaylene Gould’s Reside project traces the migration of the breadfruit as a story of resilience and connection, bringing together communities
GALLERY & CORNER
OPENING TIMES
Tue - Sat 10am - 4pm
Closed Sun & Mon
Closed Bank Holidays
www.nae.org.uk
0115 924 8630
info@nae.org.uk
through food, storytelling and shared heritage. Our Friday Night Socials continue to bring people together to honour Windrush, Angolan independence, poetry, live music and truth-telling. Workshops, family activities and creative labs ensure that NAE remains a home for making, learning and playing across generations. Whether through singing, music production, sketching or the Saturday Arts Club, there is space for everyone to connect and create. At NAE, we believe art is not only to be seen but to be lived. Through creativity we reflect on our histories, challenge the present and imagine the futures we want to build. This season, our doors remain open to all.
Together, we continue shaping culture from where we stand.
Saad-Eddine Said CEO and Artistic Director New Art Exchange
39 - 41 Gregory Boulevard Nottingham
NG7 6BE
A short walk from The Forest tram stop.
SIMEON BARCLAY IN PLACE OF FEAR
11 OCTOBER 2025 – 24 JANUARY 2026
MAIN GALLERY
In this new exhibition, Simeon Barclay draws upon a rich vein of pop cultural sources, producing works that activate complex cultural histories while exploring how we navigate identity, both imposed and self-curated. Combining a diverse range of media, Barclay creates reductive, sophisticated works that engage with aspects of aesthetics, British culture, subjectivity and memory.
After spending his formative years working in the manufacturing industry in the North of England, Barclay would attend night school, eventually obtaining an MFA from Goldsmiths University, London (UK).
As a youth, he became preoccupied with fashion, citing its vitality as a conduit for both embellishment and resistance. Fashion’s social and economic contexts were also relevant, providing a dichotomy
between the artist’s fascination with Vogue magazine, a periodical that offered aspirational imagery through its glamour and theatricality, and the stark contrast of his everyday reality and life working in a factory. These insights would later fuel his involvement in various subcultural movements, whose symbolic and alternative modes of expression defined themselves in opposition to social norms.
This personal development, combined with an understanding of broader social concerns surrounding the rhetoric of belonging and the role of the diaspora as stakeholders in shaping an evolving British culture, has contributed to Barclay’s keen awareness of the psychological, socio-cultural, and political contexts that inform lived experience.
“Achieve the highest rank of Ace, and then you graduate and go home to your families. (If they’ll have you, but that’s between y’all.)
An Ace listens to the housemen and his house father, he does his work without shirking or malingering, and he applies himself to his studies. An Ace does not roughhouse, he does not cuss, he does not blaspheme and carry on. He works to reform himself from sunrise to sunset. It’s up to you how much time you spend with us. We don’t mess around here with idiots. If you mess up, we have a place for you, and you will not like it. I’ll see to it personally.”
The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead (2022)
This work draws from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Nickel Boys and RaMell Ross’s 2024 film adaptation, which tells the story of Elwood Curtis, a boy whose belief in discipline and hard work cannot save him from the violence of an unjust system. His story mirrors the damaging effects of grind culture, which I have deeply internalised over the past couple of years.
Influenced by Tricia Hersey’s Rest Is Resistance, this project reclaims rest as a radical and sacred act. After an ADHD burnout diagnosis, I began to explore how productivity masked my exhaustion and how rest could become a form of mental, physical and emotional integration.
HEATHER AGYEPONG
FROM SUNRISE TO SUNSET, SHE WORKED TO
11 OCTOBER 2025 - 24 JANUARY 2026
MEZZANINE GALLERY
IN CONVERSATION:
HEATHER AGYEPONG AND LISA ANDERSON
12 NOVEMBER 2025
7PM–9PM
We are delighted to invite you to In Conversation: Heather Agyepong and Lisa Anderson on Wednesday, 12th November. This discussion will explore the artworks featured in Heather’s solo exhibition and her broader artistic practice.
About Lisa Anderson:
In 2019, she launched Lisa Anderson Art Advisory and joined Black Cultural Archives as Interim Managing Director in 2021.
Anderson has curated several exhibitions, developed educational programs on Black British Art, and serves on advisory boards for Addis Fine Art and Uchenna Dance, in addition to being a Trustee for the Araba Scott Children’s Foundation.
Booking Essential. Please arrive from 6.30pm. The discussion will start promptly at 7pm. Refreshments will be provided before and after.
ALL WELCOME | FREE
SIMEON BARCLAY IN CONVERSATION WITH SAMRA MAYANJA
26 NOVEMBER 7PM–9PM
Artist and writer Samra Mayanja will be in conversation with exhibiting artist Simeon Barclay.
Using words, sound, and images, Mayanja and Barclay will explore the influences of their work on their artistic trajectories.
Samra Mayanja is a London-based artist and writer. Her work examines the body’s illegibility and the absurdity of seeking what is inherently lost, specifically, a clown-like pursuit of the impossible. The theme of searching, futile yet hopeful, runs through her work. She blends sexy-gone-sour slapstick and poetic monologues with tender vocalisations.
Simeon Barclay works across sculpture, film, and mixed media installation. His work explores the ways we navigate and perform identity. He draws on a range of influences from cultural and social histories, such as folk tales, British and popular culture, and the concept of masculinity.
ALL WELCOME | FREE
THE RUIN
LIVE PERFORMANCE BY SIMEON BARCLAY
FRIDAY 16 JANUARY 2026
7PM–9PM
The Ruin is a new performance by British artist Simeon Barclay, commissioned and first presented by The Roberts Institute of Art. This piece combines spoken word and live percussion by James Larter and horn by Isaac Shieh to explore themes of British identity, masculinity and class.
Drawing from his upbringing in Huddersfield as the son of West Indian parents, Barclay reflects on the industrial landscape of northern England in the 1980s and 90s, using rhythm and melody to evoke a rich and layered soundscape.
Presented against the backdrop of Barclay’s exhibition, the performance engages with this distinctive environment, where spoken word, sound, and sculpture intersect. The performance also draws inspiration from early modern music, industrial sounds, and pop cultural references, blending them into a theatrical meditation on self-image, memory, and the evolving myth of Britain.
With RIA’s support, Barclay developed The Ruin over a year-long R&D period that included close engagement with the theatre, costume, and performance teams.
+16 ONLY | FREE
GAYLENE GOULD
7 OCTOBER –22 NOVEMBER 2025
Gaylene is a socially engaged artist who works with Global Majority communities to amplify their collective wisdom. Using sensitive facilitation skills, creating intimate settings to draw out lived experiences and transform that wisdom through collage-based objects, rituals and emotionally connecting experiences. The aim is to help communities explore cultural histories that could heal how we relate to ourselves and each other. Her projects have been commissioned by the Tate, V&A, Clore Leadership, Wellcome Collection, and take place where people live, work and play, like shopping centres, on streets, in gardens and galleries.
Through Reside, Gould will begin developing a new collaborative project based on the humble Breadfruit.
The 4000-year migration of the Breadfruit from Taiwan to the Pacific Islands and onto the Caribbean (carried there by the British as a food source for enslaved Africans) highlights the long and entangled history of human migration and plant life.
This project will trace this global journey by collaborating with migrant communities from the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Pacific Islands who have grown up eating the fruit through conversations, recipe gathering, and cooking sessions. The final project will celebrate these global stories in a dinner event for invited participants served with specially designed dinnerware, tablescaping and textiles.
SINGING WORKSHOP
EVERY TUESDAY FROM 14 OCTOBER –16 DECEMBER 2025
6PM–7:30PM
Take One Studio is o ering the opportunity to discover the power of your voice in 10-week singing course, designed for beginners and intermediate singers. Delivered by Janine Nicole, a talented singer-songwriter with years of experience, this course will help you build confidence and improve your vocal technique in a supportive, creative environment.
ALL WELCOME | FREE (UNDER 14’S WITH PARENTS OR LEGAL GUARDIAN)
SKETCH WITH ELLA
OCT 15, 29, NOV 12, 26, AND DEC 10 6PM–7:30PM
Join us for regular workshops where we take a playful approach to life drawing. Whether you’re a seasoned artist or just curious, just bring yourself and a keen eye to these seasonal sessions. All materials are provided, but feel free to bring your own.
Find out more on NAE’s website or Ella’s Instagram @ellaofthestreet
AGES 18+ | BOOKING REQUIRED | £5 PP
LOGIC PRO X WORKSHOP
EVERY WEDNESDAY, FROM 15 OCTOBER –17 DECEMBER 2025 6PM – 7:30PM
Take One Studio is o ering a practical 10-week music production course designed to give you hands-on experience with industry-standard tools and studio techniques. You will explore the powerful capabilities of Logic Pro X and FL Studio, learning how to navigate the software interface, create beats, use MIDI instruments, and apply e ects to shape your sound.
ALL WELCOME | FREE (UNDER 14’S WITH PARENTS OR LEGAL GUARDIAN)
SATURDAY ARTS CLUB
OCT 18, NOV 1 & 22, DEC 6 & 20 10:30AM-12:30PM
Kick o your Saturday with a burst of creativity!
Join us for free, drop-in workshops packed with hands-on fun, imagination, and playful discovery. Inspiring artists lead each session and brings brand new activities to try, so no two weekends are ever the same! Whether you come to make, explore, or simply have fun together, it’s the perfect way for families to get creative and start the weekend with a smile.
To find out more, contact info@nae.org.uk
ALL WELCOME | FREE
FLUENT IN BOTH
WINDRUSH SPECIAL
3 OCTOBER
7PM TILL LATE
This special edition honours the enduring legacy of the Windrush Generation, the Caribbean migrants who arrived in the UK between 1948 and the early 1970s and transformed British society. Through poetry, music, and dance, the evening will celebrate their cultural, political, and emotional impact while spotlighting stories of migration, resilience, identity, and heritage. With intergenerational voices at its heart, expect a vibrant, soul-stirring event that both reflects on the past and celebrates the richness of Windrush in shaping Britain’s cultural landscape today.
+16 ONLY | FREE
MUSA PRESENTS: SOUNDING OFF
17 OCTOBER
7PM TILL LATE
Come down to New Art Exchange for an evening celebrating some of the best musicians Nottingham has to offer. We’ll be opening the night with three incredible solo artists, setting the tone with soulful, stripped-back performances, before turning it up with three brilliant bands bringing full energy to the stage.
Expect a mix of genres, fresh talent, and the kind of atmosphere that makes you fall in love with live music all over again.
+16 ONLY | FREE
BAD BETTY PRESS
24 OCTOBER
6PM–9:30PM
Join us for an electrifying evening of poetry and music with award-winning publisher Bad Betty Press. Expect powerful performances from Desree (Altar, Forward Prize shortlist), Ashley Hickson-Lovence (Wild East, East Anglian Book of the Year), and rising poet Hasti (young, dumb, and full of poems). They’re joined by Nottingham’s own Davina Songbird, blending soulful vocals with spoken word.
Hosted by Bridie Squires and Jake Wild Hall, with BSL interpretation by Steph Lehrle.
+16 ONLY | PRICES STARTING AT £7.21 VIA BAD BETTY PRESS’ EVENTBRITE
DRENA
ANGOLA INDEPENDENCE DAY 7 NOVEMBER 7PM TILL LATE
Join us to celebrate Angolan Independence Day, marking over 48 years since Angola gained independence in 1975! This vibrant evening will bring together the sights, sounds, and flavours of Angola, featuring a Kizomba, DJs, and live performances by talented artists with PALOP heritage. Enjoy traditional Angolan dishes prepared by the Angola Women’s Voice Association and immerse yourself in the culture, music, and community spirit of Angola.
Come and celebrate freedom, resilience, and joy!
ALL AGES WELCOME | FREE FRIDAY
FRIDAY NIGHT SOCIALS
SLURP 14 NOVEMBER
7PM TILL LATE
A creative community evening with Clovers and Tommy on Top.
Join us at Corner for Slurp, an autumn evening of creativity, conversation and connection. O ering a playful twist on the classic “drink and draw”, the night will feature hands-on activities such as bookmark making and a collaborative group quilt, alongside seasonal drinks, and Middle Eastern nibbles. The evening will conclude with live performances, all in a warm and welcoming space.
ALL AGES WELCOME | FREE
ELLIPSIS: BREAKING THE SILENCE
21 NOVEMBER 7PM TILL LATE
A night of spoken word and music that dares to voice what is too often left unsaid. Through raw lyrics and powerful performance, artists will explore stories of survival, revolution, trauma, healing, and resilience.
This is a space for truth-telling, for reclaiming power, and for finding solidarity in shared struggles. Each word spoken becomes both a wound uncovered and a step toward collective healing.
Join us at New Art Exchange as voices rise against silence. Experience poetry and music that challenges, confronts, and uplifts, reminding us that survival itself is an act of revolution.
+16 ONLY | FREE
CREATIVE CORNER WITH KIKI CARDS FOR EVERY
OCCASION
12 DECEMBER 6PM–9PM
Whether you want to craft festive greetings, birthday wishes, or just a special note for someone you love, this session is all about creativity, connection, and making something personal. Using simple, affordable techniques like lino printing and mixed media, you’ll create beautiful handmade cards and get to take home the lino block you carve so that the creative fun can continue at home. All materials will be provided; just bring yourself and, optionally, a friend!
+16 ONLY SPACES ARE LIMITED - BOOKING REQUIRED | £3 PP
NAE OPEN 2026 APPLICATIONS
The NAE Open is an annual exhibition and professional development opportunity for UK based artists from the Global Ethnic Majority and all artists living in Nottinghamshire. Artists from across artforms can apply to have their work exhibited in the NAE Open which will take place in summer 2025.
Beyond the show itself, exhibitors will also be in the running for a range of prizes awarded by NAE and our partners, which include future solo exhibitions, residencies and other profile raising and developmental opportunities.
Look out for our opportunities page for more info.
