SET

🎬 SET FILM FESTIVAL 2026 OPEN CALL! 🎬 This November we return to @set.social.peckham for the fourth edition of the festival, and we’re inviting filmmakers and artists from around the world to share short films for the programme. Founded in 2023 by curators Amina Ali, Ellie Dobbs, and Verity Monroe, the SET Film Festival is a grassroots international platform for contemporary, artist, and archival film, centred on experimental practices, emerging voices, and artists’ moving image that sits outside conventional exhibition and distribution contexts. As always, we welcome short films of all genres, including animation, documentary, drama, experimental cinema, essay film and artists’ moving image. Eligibility & Submission details: ⭐️Submissions are free and open internationally. ⭐️Runtime: no longer than 30 minutes ⭐️Completion date: after 1 January 2023 ⭐️One submission per artist ⭐️Deadline: 23:59pm Sunday 7 June 2026 Screenings will take place every Thursday from 5 November to 3 December, alongside some exciting plans to expand how the programme is shared, with selected screenings moving beyond Peckham through new collaborations. For full details on eligibility and how to apply, please see our submission guidelines in the link in bio. 🔗 Branding & poster design: @ashleykinnardstudio #opencall #filmfestivalsubmissions #experimentalfilm #artistmovingimage #shortfilmopencall

The writer and founder of SET @rolandfischerv on shocking exhibitions, Camille Ralphs, and Mahler.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEER PRE-SELECTORS FOR THE 2026 SET FILM FESTIVAL 📽️ We’re looking for committed film lovers to join our programming panel. Working closely with our curatorial team, you’ll help review the hundreds of short films coming through this year’s open call and directly help shape the 2026 festival programme. The role involves viewing approximately 12 hours of film remotely, alongside attending mandatory in-person programming meetings at @set.social.peckham on 23 June and 21 July. Key responsibilities include evaluating submissions, providing thoughtful written notes, and contributing programme copy for the final selection. All pre-selectors will get a free pass to the entire month-long festival and a credit in each night’s printed programme. At the end of the viewing process, pre-selectors will also have the opportunity to submit a screening proposal for a chance to curate a paid screening. Deadline to apply: Sunday 31 May, 23:59pm. 🔗 Head to the link in our bio for the full role description, application details and info on volunteer benefits. 📸 Festa (2022) by Noémi Varga @noemi_v , Opening Night of the inaugural 2023 SET Film Festival. Still courtesy of the artist. #setfilmfestival #filmprogramming #filmcuration #volunteeropportunity

‘Rule of Thumb’ opens this Friday 15 May, 6-9pm, at SET Lewisham. Co-curated by the four participating artists, working across painting, sculpture, and installation, the exhibition examines how power is naturalised through physical presence. Taking its title from the idiom “rule of thumb” - a phrase denoting approximate measurement famously, if controversially, historically linked to a legal loophole for domestic violence - the works explore how authority is mapped onto the body within domestic and institutional spheres. 📎 Learn more via link in bio Details Public opening event: Friday 15 May, 6-9pm Dates: 14-18 May Weekend hours: Saturday & Sunday, 12-5pm Weekday hours: Thursday, Friday & Monday (By appointment) Location: SET Lewisham, Unit 1, Lewisham Retail Park, SE13 7RZ Admission: Free The exhibition is also viewable by appointment on weekdays. Please contact: [email protected] Contributing artists: @emiliaauersperg Jiyoung Pyo @phoebe.randall @florencesweeney This exhibition is presented as part of SET’s Associate Members Programme, which offers early-career and underrepresented artists with studio space, project spaces and opportunities to independently curate public-facing exhibitions, workshops, and events. Poster design by @phoebe.randall

SET is proud to announce the opening of a new major arts centre in Wimbledon, South West London, with studio viewings for our first phase of self-contained studios taking place on Wednesday 13 May, 2-4pm. Located at St Georges House East (SW19), just a few minutes from Wimbledon station and spanning 30,000 sq ft, this site is a significant new addition to our network, providing much-needed genuinely affordable workspace for the local artist community. The centre is opening in phases, starting with 20 self-contained rooms available for move-in from 1 June. While the majority of the studios are still being built out, these initial spaces are ready for immediate use and are ideal for individual artists or small groups. Studios are priced at just £1.45 per sqft PCM, inclusive of rates and utilities. These spaces range from approximately 62 sqft to 384 sqft, with prices starting at just £170 to £557 PCM - some of the most affordable in South West London. All spaces are guaranteed until 2028, followed by a 3-month rolling contract. As with all our centres, SET Wimbledon is rooted in our ethos of providing long-term security for artists in the city, and follows a period of rapid growth in the South London area, joining recent new centres in Vauxhall, Fulham, and Deptford. As a charity, every penny from studio fees goes directly back into the site, allowing us to keep rents low so that artists and community groups can afford to stay and work in their local area. To keep the space rooted locally, priority will be given to artists living and working in Wimbledon and the wider Borough of Merton. Studios are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis following the in-person viewing. 🔗 Find out more and book your viewing slot via the link in our bio. #SETWimbledon #wimbledon #merton #southwestlondon #affordablestudios

Install shots from our recent exhibition, ‘Doublewalker’, at SET Vauxhall. Taking its title from the etymology of ‘doppelgänger’ or ‘twin stranger,’ the exhibition explored the quiet tension between the familiar and the unreachable. Through sculpture, installation, and sound, seven artists navigated processes of repetition and fragmentation, responding directly to the repurposed, industrial character of our new SET Vauxhall space. From site-specific interventions to explorations of colonial histories and inheritance, ‘Doublewalker’ invited us to look closer at the shifting meanings of the objects and environments we inhabit. A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for the opening and throughout the run, curator Laura Higgens and to our incredible exhibiting artists: @nell.castor @suzanne.elven @kairitokoro @lhiggins1616 @beaamayorga @elegarciasirv @izzygj0nes This exhibition was presented as part of SET’s Associate Members Programme, an initiative dedicated to providing studio space, visibility, and curatorial opportunities for early-career and underrepresented artists in London. 📸 Photos by Charlie Goodall @movingface

Help revive the 15th-century tradition of communal lacemaking this Sunday 10 May with a session led by @londonlaceclub , part of SET 91’s ongoing Open Series. Founded by practitioners and researchers, @ameliadaisywhite and @laurenwsn , the club is a community-led response to bobbin lace appearing on the Heritage Crafts Endangered ‘Red List.’ By bringing people together to learn and share, the session ensures this historic craft remains a living, accessible practice rather than a lost one. Over the course of two hours, both experienced lacemakers and total novices are invited to share tools, knowledge, and works-in-progress, with the goal of building your confidence to explore lace making in your own way. Date: Sunday 10 May Time: 12-2pm Location: SET 91, 91 Tabernacle Street, Old Street Admission: Free 🪡 The essentials 🪡 -Please bring your own equipment, including a lace making pillow and current projects. **Beginners** - if you require equipment and support, please DM @londonlaceclub in advance so they can ensure a setup is ready for you. As places are limited, we kindly ask that you only book if you are certain you can attend. If you can no longer make it, please cancel your ticket via Outsavvy and contact us at [email protected] so your spot can be offered to someone else. 🔗 Head to link in bio for more details & book a spot #lacemaking #heritagecrafts #bobbinlace #openseries #londonworkshop

This isn’t your usual members’ club… Fast becoming one of South London’s favourite hangouts, @set.social.peckham (part of @setsetsetsetsetset ) is a community-led arts and social club. Across its café, bar, library, gallery and garden, the space runs a stacked programme of events including DJ sets, exhibitions, life-drawing, reading groups, film screenings… the list goes on! At its heart is an ethos of openness, inclusion and collaboration. We’re into it. Are you? As always, share your thoughts in the comments and let us know what you want to checkout first at SET, and then then head to the link in bio for more.

Important update to SET Social members and community groups: We’re writing to share an update to the announcement we made yesterday. As you may have seen online, SET Social is currently closed as of today 30 April. We’re currently in the midst of a transition between landlords, and while we have been working hard behind the scenes to ensure this happened seamlessly, we’ve unfortunately hit some unexpected administrative delays with the transition that are out of our control. Because of this, we regret to inform you that our originally proposed reopening date will now be postponed to mid-May, and we’ll share a confirmed opening date with you very soon. All affected programmers and event leads have been contacted directly. If you have any questions about a specific booking, please get in touch with the event organisers. If you have any questions regarding the venue, please get in contact with our SET Social team at [email protected]. We know this feels like a sudden shift after yesterday’s post, and we’re so sorry for the change in plans. But we’re very excited to welcome you all back once these final steps are all wrapped up. We’ve got a lot of great things planned and can’t wait to get back to it! Thank you for your patience and for sticking with us while we navigate these final steps. We’ll be sharing our confirmed opening date as soon as we can. Much love, The SET Team x

Install shots of the recent portrait exhibition by documentary photographer Rosie Barnes (@rosiebarnesphoto ) at SET Lewisham. This moving body of work explores the nuanced, lived experiences of autistic women. A huge thank you to everyone who visited! It was wonderful to see such a fantastic turnout. The exhibition was presented with support from @drumbeat_outreach to mark Autism Awareness Month in Lewisham. The project was supported by @lewishamcouncil Public Health as part of the Lewisham All Age Autism Strategy, and contributes to the Partnership for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme. 📸 by Charlie Goodall @movingface

New Dropbox alert!! 🚨 🎞️ We’ve teamed up with our friends at @set.social.peckham to give South London a new film Dropbox. Save on the faff of posting film by placing your order right into the box when you visit SET. Film will be collected every Thursday evening with a rapid turnaround for your scans!

Some install shots of Trojan Horses curated by myself and @elisaterranera ! 🐎 Thank you to everyone who made it down to see the show! Overwhelmed with the positive response! 😃 If you haven’t made it yet, it closes on Sunday 26th! Such a privilege to work with all of these incredible artists and thank you to @setsetsetsetsetset for accepting our proposal to use their new Vauxhall space. More accessible, community focused exhibition spaces! Exhibiting artists: @sasha_alfille @joeya1 @bek.ashton @arthur_boothby @lucybrucegardner @bruno.diazx @barthajduk @tomhoulihan_ @morninkeziah @elisaterranera @dylanwil1iams Pictured, left to right: 1. Joe Allen, Bart Hajduk, Lucy Bruce-Gardner, Arthur Boothby 2. Thomas Houlihan, Jack McGarrity, Bruno Diaz 3. Dylan Williams, Elisa Terranera, Bruno Diaz 4. Thomas Houlihan, Rebecca Ashton, Bruno Diaz 5. Sasha Alfillé Please get in touch if you’d like any more information about the artworks/ artists/ group exhibitions / community focused free exhibition spaces. Big big thanks to @jakehusband_ for the photos 📸 #contemporarypaintings #drawings #royaldrawingschool #modernpainting #exhibitionart