The ‘UK’s most important touring exhibition of contemporary art’ is coming to the West Midlands this October.

The British Art Show, which is now in its landmark tenth edition, will tour across the UK, launching at several Coventry venues on Fri 2 Oct.

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.

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, before touring to Swansea, Bristol, Sheffield and Newcastle Gateshead.

Jack O’Brien [Cue the Cue 2025, Kestner-Gesellschaft] Photo by VolkerCrone

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.”

Titled British Art Show 10: A Chorus of Strangers, this year’s edition is curated by Ekow Eshun, 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.

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.”

British Art Show 10: A Chorus of Strangers comes to Coventry Fri 2 Oct – Sun 10 Jan. You can find more information here.

Featured image credit: Osman-Yousefzada [Will We Be Good Enough, The Box, Plymouth] photo by Dom-Moore.