Join us for the opening of by blood, by guide, by call, the third edition exhibition of the Women of Colour Art Award (WoCAA), curated by Ariel Collier.
Presented by 198 Contemporary Arts & Learning in partnership with the Rita Keegan Foundation, the exhibition features Kat Anderson, Deeqa Ismail, Puer Deorum, Rose Nordin, and Sheida Mehri, shown alongside archival work by Rita Keegan.
Through installation, moving image, sound, sculpture, textiles, and expanded material practices, by blood, by guide, by call explores endurance, process, memory, and alternative forms of archiving and world-building.
Curated by Ariel Collier, the exhibition brings together artists whose practices engage materiality, experimentation, and transformation — reflecting this year’s focus on process-led and interdisciplinary approaches.
Private View: Thursday 28 May, 6–9pm (Free and open to all) Exhibition Dates: 29 May – 19 July 2026
198 Contemporary Arts & Learning Railton Road, SE24 0JT
The WoCAA finalists were selected by the Rita Keegan Foundation and will each receive the RKF Travel Bursary, with the overall prize winner selected by the 198 judging panel and receiving the unrestricted WoCAA bursary prize.
Image credits:
Silhouette portrait — Rohan Ayinde
Paperwork — Jonathan Bassett
Collage, Memories & Mindfulness Art Inclusive Community Art for Neurodivergent, LDD and Mental Health Adults
Every Tuesday, 19th May – 21th July 2026
10 sessions, spread over 10 weeks
11.30 am - 5 pm
Location: 198 Railton Road, Herne Hill SE24 0JT
This course is designed specifically for neurodivergent, LDD, and mental health adults. Explore memories and family histories in this welcoming and supportive art course. Learners will use images, colours, textures, and words to create personal artworks inspired by meaningful people, places, and experiences.
Art Course: Your Story
Explore your memories and family history
Make art about people and places important to you
Use pictures, colours, textures, and words
What you will do:
Learn easy collage
Think about your life and experiences
Create your own final artwork
Good to know:
Friendly and supportive class
Everyone is welcome
No art experience needed
Introducing, KAT ANDERSON
WoCAA 2026 Winner
Kat Anderson is a multidisciplinary artist working under Episodes of Horror, using horror as a framework to explore historic and contemporary representations of mental illness and trauma as experienced by or projected onto Black bodies.
Her work spans film, installation, and performance, creating psychologically charged spaces that interrogate visibility, control, and perception.
Recent presentations include South London Gallery as part of New Contemporaries 2025/26 (touring to MIMA, Middlesbrough), alongside exhibitions at York Art Gallery and Block336. Her work is held in the collection of Wellcome Collection.
Anderson is the recipient of the Stanley Picker Fellowship (2025–2027) and winner of the East London Art Prize (2023).
Winner of the Women of Colour Art Award 2026.
Introducing, SHEIDA MEHRI
WoCAA 2026 Finalist
Sheida Mehri is a UK-based Iranian artist working across installation and material-led practices.
Her work centres mirror, repetition, and labour-intensive processes to explore resilience, visibility, and the lived experiences of women within Iranian social and cultural contexts.
Drawing from Persian visual culture and craft traditions, Mehri constructs fragmented reflective surfaces that transform into structured forms — holding both vulnerability and strength.
Through light and reflection, her work creates shifting encounters where viewers become implicated within fractured yet continuous images.
Part of the Women of Colour Art Award (WoCAA) 2026 exhibition at 198 Contemporary Arts & Learning.
Introducing, ROSE NORDIN
WoCAA 2026 Finalist
Rose Nordin is a British–Malay artist and graphic designer whose practice examines systems of knowledge production through installation, print, metalwork, and emergent olfactory forms.
Her work traces how materials and symbols carry histories of governance, devotion, and ecological imagination, with current research focused on Southeast Asian archipelagic thinking and colonial trade routes.
Nordin has worked with organisations including Somerset House Studios, Serpentine Galleries, and Tai Kwun Contemporary, and is currently a Fellow at the Centre for Art and Design Research.
Part of the Women of Colour Art Award (WoCAA) 2026 exhibition at 198 Contemporary Arts & Learning.
Introducing, PUER DEORUM
WoCAA 2026 Finalist
Puer Deorum’s practice navigates the space between weight and ephemerality, exploring mortality, time, and psycho-social geographies.
Through performance, moving image, and installation, they work with duration, dream sequences, and embodied actions to map emotional and speculative landscapes.
Their work creates layered cartographies of memory and place, imagining alternative futures and co-existing timelines.
They have presented work at Whitechapel Gallery, Serendipity Arts Festival (India), and Les Urbaines (Switzerland) and are currently part of La Becque’s Principal Residency Programme.
Part of the Women of Colour Art Award (WoCAA) 2026 exhibition at 198 Contemporary Arts & Learning.
Introducing, DEEQA ISMAIL
WoCAA 2026 Finalist
Deeqa Ismail is an artist working across printmaking, sound, video, and installation, often incorporating analogue processes and Somali sonic archives.
Her practice explores hybrid identity and in-between spaces, tracing how colonial histories shape present-day realities. Through film, sculpture, and sound, she creates immersive environments for reflection and imagination.
Recent exhibitions include Castlefield Gallery, Whitechapel Gallery, as part of Numbi arts and Chisenhale Art Place - Salon for speculative futures (SFASF).
Part of the Women of Colour Art Award (WoCAA) 2026 exhibition at 198 Contemporary Arts & Learning.
WoCAA 2026
We’re delighted to announce the winner and finalists of the Women of Colour Art Award 2026.
CONGRATULATIONS:
Winner:
Kat Anderson @katanderson26
Finalists:
Deeqa Ismail @deeqa_deeqa_deeqa
Puer Deorum @puer_deorum
Rose Nordin @amokamok
Sheida Mehri @sheida.mehri
This year’s award foregrounds materiality and process, supporting experimental and process-led practices across a range of disciplines.
We look forward to working with these artists towards a group exhibition at 198 Contemporary Arts & Learning May 28th 2026.
Thank you to all who applied — we were truly impressed by the breadth and strength of submissions.
This year’s WoCAA finalists were selected by the Rita Keegan Foundation, with the overall prize winner selected by the 198 judging panel.
Are you aged 19+, living in Lambeth, low waged or unemployed?*
Then our free creative courses might be for you! See below for more information on our upcoming coursesand register your interest by completing the form found via the link in our bio.
*Dependent on meeting our eligibility criteria specified on our website.
Ceramics:
Every Wednesday, 6th May – 8th July 2026
10 sessions, spread over 10 weeks
11.30 am - 5 pm
Location: 198 Railton Road, Herne Hill SE24 0JT
This 10-week course introduces participants to the fundamentals of ceramic hand-building with air-dry clay. Through guided, practical sessions, learners will explore techniques such as pinch pots, coil building, slab construction, surface decoration, and sculptural form. The course encourages experimentation, skill development and personal expression in a supportive, inclusive environment.
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Clarence Thompson MBE, the first Chairman of 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning.
Clarence was a visionary leader, a dedicated community builder, and a deeply respected figure whose impact will be felt for generations. As part of the Windrush generation, he carried with him a spirit of resilience, determination, and belief in the power of community. Through his leadership, he helped shape not only our organisation but the wider cultural and social landscape.
He worked tirelessly to create opportunities for others, championing inclusion, empowerment, and access to the arts and beyond. Clarence believed in building futures; opening doors for those too often overlooked and ensuring that community remained at the heart of everything he did.
We honour his life, his legacy, and his unwavering commitment to uplifting others.
Rest in power, Clarence Thompson MBE.
Images: 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning archive
Creative Fusion: Inclusive Community Art for Neurodivergent Adults
Every Tuesday, 5th May – 7th July 2026
10 sessions, spread over 10 weeks
11.30 am - 5 pm
Location: 198 Railton Road, Herne Hill SE24 0JT
This course is designed specifically for neurodivergent adults. Explore memories and family histories in this welcoming and supportive art course. Learners will use images, colours, textures, and words to create personal artworks inspired by meaningful people, places, and experiences.
Art Course: Your Story
Explore your memories and family history
Make art about people and places important to you
Use pictures, colours, textures, and words
What you will do:
Learn easy collage
Think about your life and experiences
Create your own final artwork
Good to know:
- Friendly and supportive class
- Everyone is welcome
- No art experience needed
'Frosty Woods' by Fi Sonola in TOOLs, a group exhibition featuring Ella Wanendeya, Fi Sonola, and Kialy Tihngang.
TOOLs explores objects beyond utility — reimagined as extensions of the body, carriers of memory, and sites of resistance. Across sound, performance, sculpture, moving image, and installation, the exhibition considers how tools can disrupt imposed narratives and imagine alternate temporalities.
Final week to visit.
20th February – 12th April 2026
198 Contemporary Arts & Learning
Supported by Arts Council England
