Overview

Zabludowicz Collection is a philanthropic organisation encompassing a growing collection of contemporary art and a programme of international exhibitions, events and artists’ residencies. Founded in 1994, the Collection is dedicated to fostering new audiences and a sustainable environment for contemporary art, offering a variety of opportunities and support for artists, curators, and art organisations. The aim of the Collection has always been to share artworks as widely as possible. All its activities are privately funded and free for the public to access.

Since opening its London project space in 2007, the Zabludowicz Collection has organised over 100 free exhibitions, and more than 640 free events and performances at 176 Prince of Wales Road, until the building’s closure in December 2023. The Collection has worked with hundreds of artists in 26 group shows, 25 solo exhibitions, and 63 Zabludowicz Collection Invites* presentations. All of this has been accessible free of charge for the public to enjoy. Over 250,000 people have visited the exhibitions and events.

Zabludowicz Collection at 176 Prince of Wales Road opened to the public in September 2007 with the exhibition An Archaeology which included work by 38 artists from the Collection, including Candice Breitz, Sarah Lucas and Rachel Kneebone. Exhibitions drawn from the constantly evolving collection have been a stalwart of the programme, and inviting curators to use the collection will become an increasing focus for the team. Collection exhibitions have explored perspectives around the shaping of communities and the human psyche, by and with technology, drawing out underrepresented voices and developments in contemporary art, and often foregrounding women, queer and nonbinary artists.

Known for its experimental and immersive exhibitions and forward-thinking programming, the Zabludowicz Collection has introduced many international artists to UK audiences. This includes commissioning the first UK solo exhibitions by artists including Ryan Trecartin / Lizzie Fitch, Donna Huanca, Jon Rafman and LuYang. Seminal exhibitions by British artists at pivotal points in their career include Ed Atkins, Rachel Maclean, Andy Holden, Marianna Simnett, Haroon Mirza, and Rebecca Ackroyd, with each artist offered the chance to develop a unique exhibition in the former Methodist Chapel at 176 Prince of Wales Road. A unique publication accompanied the major exhibitions, bringing together the very best of art writers and thinkers. To date, the Zabludowicz Collection has published over 40 books commissioning texts by a diverse a group of authors including Aindrea Emelife, Tom McCarthy, David Campany, Filipa Ramos and Rick Moody. These authors have written about artists from the Collection whose work has been shown at 176, including Damian Hirst, Rachael Harrison, Tracey Emin, Glenn Ligon, Philip Guston, Maria Lassnig, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Rachel Whiteread, among many others.

In 2018, the Zabludowicz Collection opened 360 Virtual Reality Room, the UK’s first gallery space dedicated to presenting new VR art works, which staged 17 VR projects. This was in addition to groundbreaking VR installations by Jon Rafman and Rachel Rossin in 2015 and 2019 respectively. 2022 exhibition Among The Machines featured Augmented Reality (AR) commissions by Joey Holder, Lauren Moffatt and Theo Triantafyllidis.

All this free public activity has been underpinned by an extensive events programme, offering families, students, artists, and other visitors the possibility to engage with and learn about art in different ways, from groundbreaking performances to panel discussions, book launches and family workshops.

The Collection continues to run and support educational projects for emerging curators and artists to develop their professional practices following over a decade of the Testing Ground and Master Class programmes being run from 176 Prince of Wales Road.

Master Class is a professional development programme for artists devised and delivered in partnership with artist Doug Fishbone since 2013. Master Class offers a unique and free opportunity for emerging artists selected through a national Open Call. The participants work closely with leading international artists and key arts professionals to discuss and develop their individual practices. Past guest artists include Isaac Julien, Paul Pfeiffer and Judith Bernstein.

Curatorial Testing Ground is an annual mentoring opportunity for emerging curators initiated in 2009 and run by Zabludowicz Collection curatorial team with a different academic partner each year. These have included London Metropolitan, Goldsmiths, The Royal College of Art, Chelsea & Central St Martins - University of the Arts London.

Zabludowicz Collection’s international expansion builds upon the years of successful work across the globe. Zabludowicz Collection runs a residency programme in Sarvisalo, Finland, inviting artists to visit the island to develop their artistic practice, and in 2024, the residencies will be extended with improved studio and workshops facilities. Work in Finland is set to increase, with the Collection’s activities being open to the public and further engagement with local students and residents embarked upon.

The Collection of over 8000 artworks by over 600 artists will continue to grow and the Collection team will be working to increase opportunities for the public to engage with the collection via free of charge loans to projects around the world. Since 2011, over 528 artworks have been loaned to more than 238 institutions, reaching an enormous audience in over 40 countries. More information on current and past loans can be found here.

* solo presentations by UK-based artists without UK commercial gallery representation.