A statement from our Curator
@natecoltrane
CHAPTER ONE : FOUNDATIONS
As FOUNDATIONS has come to a close I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you.
9,000 people visited
@new_art_exchange to experience the first chapter of Our Yard and seeing that level of connection to the work has been incredibly powerful.
This exhibition was created as a love letter to Nottingham’s Caribbean community. To the people, the sounds, the stories, the dances, the systems, the record shops, the conversations and the generations that helped shape the city I grew up in.
So much of this culture has influenced British life in profound ways yet the people and stories behind it are rarely documented, preserved or centred in the way they deserve.
FOUNDATIONS was my attempt to help change that and create something that honoured the elders and pioneers who laid the groundwork.
Seeing people walk through the space with emotion, recognition, pride and curiosity reminded me exactly why this work matters. Watching elders feel seen and celebrated while younger people discovered these histories for the first time is something I’ll carry with me forever.
Thank you to every contributor, interviewee, selector, artist, my wife, NAE and all the visitors who became part of this journey. This project was built collectively and could never have existed without community.
I started this project because I wanted younger generations including my own children to understand whose shoulders they stand on and the culture that helped shape the world around them.
As I now take a small step back to focus on starting a family and entering a new chapter personally that feeling sits with me even more deeply. It reminds me why preserving these stories matters.
I feel incredibly grateful for what this first chapter of Our Yard has become. This is only the beginning.
BIG UP
@natecoltrane
Our Yard : Foundations took place at New Art Exchange between the 21st Feb - 2nd May 2026.
We will return in 2027 with a new exhibition.
Time to go Outernational. 👀
