Young curators show at DLWP

Things Fall Apart is the title of the young curators' exhibition which opens next Saturday, April 4.

The project is described as a unique collaberation resulting in 'an insightful exhibition not to be missed'.

The young curators are a group of 15 who dreamed up the theme for the show then visited colleges to discuss and explore ideas with students before commissioning them to produce original work.

They are Hannah Bergin, Sam Bilsby, Leah Dickison, Laura French, Anthony Goodenough, Conor Hacon, Catherine Hambridge, Katy Harper, Lauren Hickford, Rose King, Hannah Starkey, Alice Verrall, Lucy Vincent, Benjamin Wade, Eugene Watson.

DLWP's Head of Education Polly Gifford described the year-long project as "challenging" because of the level of commitment required of everyone taking part.

She commented: "We came up with the idea of commissioning new work which we knew would be really ambitious, and a lot more challenging.

"But we felt it would be worth it because the experience then for everyone involved would be that much richer."

Polly worked over the last year with the core group, and main project facilitator Liz Whitehead of Fabrica Gallery in Brighton, and the curators themselves went out to Bexhill, Hastings and Rye colleges to talk to students about their hopes for the exhibition.

Polly commented: "I think for me this project has been really challenging for both the organisation, the curators and the artists. It has used every aspect of the DLWP as a resource to create a really unique opportunity.

"But this is also a really unique opportunity for us to work with a group of young people over such a long time and go on that journey with them.

"It has been a risk for us. It is a risk to commit to show this work in one of our main gallery spaces...It demonstrates the organisation's commitment to a younger audience and also to developing the creative skills of young people."

The young artists exhibiting their work are Grant Bingham, Nathalie Bloomfield, Jade Edmiston, Danielle Geran, Jasmin Harrold, Paul Jennings, Max Lansley, Jessica Robinson, Leila Tetzlaff.

They each interpreted the theme Things Fall Apart in different ways - Jessica's work reflected memories, Nathalie's highlighted environmental threat, while Grant centered on the Chernobyl disaster in Russia.

Jasmin, who worked on schizophrenia, commented: "Everything is about things falling apart but we have all taken it in our own way. Mine is personal as it is about my best friend, but other people thought about the environment. It is just how you interpret it.

"I chose schizophrenia because it is something I had been dealing with for a number of years. I used my art to express myself and get things out of me instead of keeping it all inside.

"This project was really good for me because I managed to explain to people what I have been going through and getting them to understand schizophrenia. I made my work kind of suggestive, so you can look at it and have your own interpretation.

"Everybody went through so many different ways of expressing their work."