IN DEDICATION

Two years and three lockdowns in the making, We Exist are excited to announce their first IRL art and performance exhibition In Dedication in collaboration with The Koppel Project.

In Dedication is an exhibition dedicated to We Exist co-founder Sophie Gwen Williams and her vision.

The exhibition includes new and existing work by 28 trans and non-binary artists in devotion to memory, community, the body, history, ancestors, desire, longing, a future, ritual, healing, liberation, resistance, love and to ourselves. These acts of dedication are told through moving-image, sound, photography, painting installation and performance.

Running alongside the exhibition there will be screenings of artists’ moving image at the satellite venue VSSL Studio on the Saturday June 4th and 11th. We Exist formally launched in October 2020 with the unveiling of a new pop-up café and exhibition space in London’s Shoreditch. This initial month-long pop-up was a place for members of the LGBTQI+ community to gather and access vital information and resources including sexual, mental and trans healthcare, and also to connect with their community during the ongoing pandemic. In November 2020, We Exist were invited by The Koppel Project Campus to stage a takeover of the old Central Saint Martins building in Holborn, inviting 40 trans and nonbinary UK based artists to take part in a freeform two-month long residency program. The upcoming exhibition is a continuation of this project, featuring new work across disciplines by 16 returning residency artists, and 12 additional artists from the UK and abroad.

Both the exhibition and two-week residency at The Koppel Project are supported by We Exist partners Body Movements, Dalston Superstore and Hard + Shiny.

The exhibition is curated by Iarlaith Ni Fheorais and five curatorial mentees Delia Detritus, Saati McCormack, Caz Ortoli, Puer Deorum and Willow Killeen. Alongside curating the exhibition this group of exhibiting artists will be developing curatorial knowledge over five sessions in fundraising, marketing, exhibition design and installation.

The entire process, beginning with the artist residency, and extending to the installation and outcome of the exhibition will be captured in a 1-hour standalone documentary directed by Gareth Pugh and Carson McColl. This film will act as a follow up to their 2019 feature-length documentary ‘Soul of a Movement.’ Made with the support of MAC,‘Soul of a Movement’ was a celebration of Queer activism in the UK and was viewed over 60,000 times within 24 hours of its online release in late June 2020.

Developed over two residencies at The Koppel Project in November 2020 and May 2022, and with the support of Arts Council England.