RCA Curating Contemporary Art

Happy new start to the year! We are excited to share some of what the CCA cohort have been up to: book recommendations and recent London-based events. Hope you enjoy, and stay tuned for more🤓

The final keywords of the Ecologies of Curating unit are «Challenging»and «Fostering». These projects mark the conclusion of this year’s explorations, and open pathways toward what’s to come. Stay tuned for next year’s projects✨

Eight Guides to the Contemporary by the CCA cohort have been on display on the Battersea Hangar mezzanine. Each offered points of orientation in the current landscape of curatorial practice across the city and around a set of key words. Now that we’ve installed and deinstalled, each group looks back at the remains. Today we think about «Editing» and «Reporting».

Eight Guides to the Contemporary by the CCA cohort have been on display on the Battersea Hangar mezzanine. Each offered points of orientation in the current landscape of curatorial practice across the city and around a set of key words. Now that we’ve installed and deinstalled, each group looks back at the remains. Today we think about «Surveying» and «Innovating».

Good Morning! We’re excited to share the first projects from our Ecologies of Curating unit. The first keywords are Targeting and Broadcasting, showcased through the groups’ initial installations and process work.

Meet the Class of 2025/26 officially taking over this account! To kick things off, we’re excited to share our printed matter displays for the Ecologies of Curating unit. We’ve created in groups 8 displays, each shaped by a different keyword discovered while exploring London. Together, they form our “Guide to the Contemporary” a snapshot of the places, practices, and cultural ecologies shaping London today.

'Photography does not pick a side', our MA Curating Contemporary Art graduate, Harriet Zhang tells us in our interview. Harriet recently co-curated 'From Allegory to Algorithm' for RCA Photography’s @RCA_photo participation at Jimei × Arles @jimei_arles featuring around 20 Chinese RCA alumni artists (some featured above) hosted at @threeshadows_official in Xiamen. Part of @rencontresarles . 'What we, the curators, really hope our audience to reach is an understanding of photography in flux.' An approach that Harriet sees as matching curatorial training at the RCA where 'photography is understood as constantly evolving beyond fixed definitions and predetermined outcomes.' 🔗 In the interview Harriet talks about a background in social anthropology, why political commitment is central to curation and what's next career wise. Images -Zhuoheng Li. Back to river, from series Noctiflorous. 2024. -Bowei Yang. The aggregation of dreams, a conversation about identity, China. 2020. -Yang Zou & Xiao Han. The devil may care I. 2025. -Yihan Pan. The Slide of the World. 2025. From the Jimei X Arles exhibition. The exhibition was co-curated by @rutbleesluxemburg . #Curation #Photography #Art

Two MA Photography @rca_photo graduates bring us perspectives on loss through the medium of tableau photography in this new exhibition from Polo Farrera (@polofarreraart ) and Juno Seunghui Joo (@junojou ). Curated by @hannah__dowling (MA Curating Contemporary Art, 2023). Bringing together their global perspectives from South Korea, Mexico and Malta, the three Royal College of Art graduates explore the rituals of mourning across cultures. And how these traditions echo through time to shape our social and cultural fabric. The Shape of Reminiscence will be @noiascape in Shepherd’s Bush from 9 to 13 October. #Photography #Photographer #Art

After a fun, fast, fruitful year, we would like to hand over to the new CCA cohort 🎤 Thank you all for sticking around, we hope you enjoy what comes next. #rca #cca #curation #londonartscene

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak” - Epictetus. Noor Albar (@albarnoor ) has been managing this account, when it came her turn to speak she said: I prefer to listen. Co-curated: ‘Provisional We’ at The Handbag Factory (@aschandbagfactory ), London (2025). ‘Seen Scene: Acting for Whom?’, Degree show at the Hangar, RCA, Battersea (2025). ‘Rejection: When No Said Yes’ at the Hangar, RCA, Battersea, London (2024). She worked as a designer for the inaugural show ‘Awwal Bait’ at the Islamic Arts Beinnale (@biennale_sa ) on the public program team. Holds a BA in visual communication and is a certified REBT practitioner. Images 1. Shadow selfie over ‘Cradle and All’ by Aline Bittar Kunzel, exhibited at Thin Skinned (2025). 2. Quoting Tiziana Alocci’s (@tiz.alocci ) presentation of her work as an artist and researcher. 3. Artists H M Baker (@missy.hmb ) and Donna Kim (@d__kimna ) during install of the show ‘Seen Scene: Acting for Whom?’ (co-curated by Noor for the degree show). 4. Visitors response to ‘what does social mean to you?’ — part of ‘Social Tea’ research presentation at the Hangar, RCA, Battersea (2024). 5. The youngest visitor of @seensceneactingforwhom watching BIG TIME by H M Baker (@missy.hmb ) 6. Bites with the artists, programmed for ‘Provisional We’ exhibition at The Handbag Factory, co curated by Noor and Hyunwoo Lim (@hyuwnoo.l ) 7. Back cover of Figure: Calling, by Yve Lomax. 8. Opening of ‘Rejection: When No Said Yes’ co-curated by Noor, Sejal Dalvi & Marjolaine Delsupexhe Cesarini, Hangar (2024). Photo by @uuuli.3.3 9. ‘Provisional We’ featuring artwork by Pan Yihan (@pyhii ) and Ross Deeley (@rossdeeley ) 10. ‘We Saw an Endless Cycle’ show visit at Hayy Jameel, Jeddah (2024).

As part of our project In Each Other’s View, we shared moments from our research journey that shaped the exhibition’s curatorial approach. Among these were excerpts from our in-conversation event at the @goetheinstitut_london with Arbër Qerka-Gashi @arberqgashi and Jelena Sofronijevic @empirelinespodcast : Revealing the Intangible Through the Tangible–Narrating Diasporic Histories Through Objects and Sound. We also exhibited the beautiful first issue of Balkanism Magazine–a digital and educational collective platform that explores Balkan culture, history, and identity. Through visual storytelling and progressive educational work, @balkanism__ strengthens interethnic dialogue both within the Balkans and across diasporic communities. Designed by Verica Petrović @petrovicverica99    © Installation shots by Kiah Tao Nothing Holds but Breath (2025) Collaborative installation by Ana Čvorović @ana_cvorovic and Riccardo Rizzetto @riccardorizzetto_studio . Sound design in collaboration with Matthew Faulkner. Part of  In Each Other‘s View Curated by Alex Xiaonan Guo, Jessie Zhou, Pia Spengler, Pietro Cattai, Sejal Dalvi, Yifu Zhu, Yiyang Liu

🌫️ Workshop Recap | Moving Stillness Led by movement artist Donna Kim @d__kimna , Moving Stillness invited participants to engage with BIG SLEEP (2024) — an audiovisual installation by H.M. Baker @missy.hmb , composed of office carpet tiles salvaged from Martin’s Bank (London, closed 1969) Participants stretched, folded, hovered, and breathed directly on the carpeted surface — not just around the artwork, but within it. 🦊 @seensceneactingforwhom 📍 RCA Battersea Hangar Space 📸 @yur1_xia0