Brighton Artists Open Houses 2026: outstanding programme revealed
Brighton’s much-loved Artists Open Houses full 2026 festival programme is now officially live online. Celebrating an impressive 45th year, the event showcases a remarkable 197 venues. Taking place across the first four weekends of May (May 2–4, May 9–10, May 16–17 and May 23–25), Brighton Open Houses once again promises a spectacular, citywide celebration of creativity, bringing together artists, makers and visitors with a unique and interactive cultural experience.
Artists Open Houses takes place across Brighton & Hove, extending to Rottingdean and Ditchling and offers visitors and residents a fresh way to explore Brighton and Hove beyond the usual routes.
This year’s programme is packed with highlights, with houses displaying work across a plethora of traditional and experimental media, including bacteria and DNA, inflatable sculpture, talking ceramics, sculpture, textiles, painting, craft and much more. Highlights include:
● See Nine ground-breaking artists at Art of Pepita x Fatboy Slim. Plus, visitors can join a visit from Fatboy Slim as Pepita Coffee launches contemporary artist TBOY’s new coffee tin designs, and catch one of Brighton’s most famous street artists, The Postman
● See AOH’s cover artist, Alej Ez, throughout the festival. Discover Modern Bathers, the cover artwork, along with other new prints in the series at his Open House. His beautiful classic landscapes will be at The Old Market, and The Flamingo House will feature his new Dragons series at the Royal Pavilion.
● Art and science meet in BioArt Transformations at the Regency Town House Basement, an innovative exhibition by internationally acclaimed artist Anna Dumitriu. A pioneer of the BioArt movement, Dumitriu works with living bacteria, DNA, and technology to create intricate sculptures, installations, and textiles, connecting the history of science and medicine with cutting-edge research in synthetic biology, genomics, and AI.
● Inflatable sculptures make their Artists Open Houses debut this year with Mandeep Dillon at Harrington Road, showing photographic, digital and collage works that explore the transient physicality of more-than-human beings. Her inflatable installations are intentionally short-lived, with photographs and moving image as their only lasting record.
● Visitors can discover Sculpture at The Secret Garden and enjoy sundowners in this beautiful setting, presented in collaboration with Surrey Sculpture Society and curated and managed by two Shoreham-based sculptors, Abby Martin and Teresa Martin
● Experience a creative cacophony of spectacular art and design at Sarah Arnett’s Picture Palace, from Artists Open Houses’ 2024 brochure cover designer.
● Ceramics are celebrated indoors and outdoors across several houses, The Great Pottery Throwdown finalist Adam Johnson returns with Make It, 11 Rugby Road with Dan (and Egg the pug). Meanwhile, Boogaloo Stu offers a twist on traditional ceramics at Wild Iris Perfumerie, bringing gloriously colourful ceramics and playful dioramas, where characterful vases chat, ooze personality, and even receive their own perfectly matched spritz of fragrance.
● Flash tattoo events by Eli Inking, at The DOG SHOW, Brighton’s only Artists Open House, completely dedicated to dog-inspired artworks, on 2nd and 3rd May are another first for the festival.
● Family creativity shines throughout the festival. Three houses showcase mothers and daughters exhibiting together across two or even three generations. LAND, SEA AND SKY presents a three-generation collaboration with paintings by Emma Christopherson, her mother Katie Christopherson, and her grandmother Sue Letts. After Sue’s dementia diagnosis, the family began painting together regularly, discovering the powerful benefits of creative expression and connection.
● Meet the team behind epic costumes from The Masked Singer, props from The Traitors, and a host of large-scale installations and creative projects. Plunge Creations opens its doors for one weekend only, offering a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse into the inventive world of professional prop making.
● The Imposter Club presents an exciting mix of physical and digital art, inviting visitors to dive into a dynamic series of workshops in digital storytelling, doodling, and game design. Displaying a diverse range of creative mediums, including illustration, installation, painting and printmaking, the group offers an enlightening and interactive experience.
Judy Stevens, AOH Festival Director, says: “This year’s programme brings together an incredible mix of both new and familiar artists and makers from the city, region and further afield. The festival brings a month-long opportunity to immerse yourself in visual creativity of all kinds. A huge thank you to brochure cover artist Alej Ez for capturing the spirit of Brighton in his cover design and to all the artists and makers whose participation makes Artists Open Houses so special and unique.”
Artists Open Houses offers a unique chance to meet local artists and makers and discover their work in venues across the city. Visitors can encounter artworks in an extraordinary range of spaces, from houses and artists’ studios to unusual locations including a hayloft, village hall, iconic seafront studios, coffee roasters, a tennis club, and even a garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll.
Every unique, handmade purchase directly supports both emerging and established creatives, while giving visitors a new way to explore Brighton and Hove.
See the full programme at https://aoh.org.uk/may2026