Primary

Join our team We are currently recruiting for two roles at Primary: * Deputy Director * Collaborative Programme Curator Application Deadline: Sunday 31 May 2026, 11pm For further information on both of these roles and how to apply please see link in bio. Image Description: A blue-tinted photograph of artist Maia Ruth Lee’s ‘Human Life in Motion’ workshop (2025). White text overlaid on the image reads: “Join our team”. #joinourteam #recruitment #opportunities #artsjobs

✨ We are pleased to announce Primary’s 2026 exhibitions programme, shaped by interdependence, reciprocity, and shared futures. We Feed The UK 7 February – 14 March 2026 Launch Event: Saturday 7 February, 2–5 pm Queer Texture | Raisa Kabir, Adam Seid Tahir, Amina Seid Tahir, and Qualeasha Wood 25 April – 18 July 2026 Featuring a live performance during the exhibition preview. Santiago Mostyn | Natural History (Lessons) 3 October – 28 November 2026 Full programme information — including previews, events, and partners — is available via our Linktree 🔗. Individual exhibition announcements will follow. Artists and partners: @thegaiafoundation @raisa_kabir_textiles_ @adam.seidtahir @aminaseidtahir @qualeasha @santiagomostyn

Primary awarded RIBA East Midlands Building of the Year The first stage of Primary’s capital development has been recognised through an RIBA East Midlands Award, as well as further awards for Building, Client and Small Project of the Year. Securing the freehold of our Grade II-listed building in 2020 was an essential first step, enabling us to embark on a redevelopment journey, transforming a characterful former Victorian school building in the Radford neighbourhood of Nottingham into a valuable cultural resource. The latest phase of architect Pricegore’s long-term collaboration with Primary creates a new public entrance by installing a series of gates alongside prominent new signage, designed with residents Joff + Ollie. The entrance leads into a welcoming landscape that reconfigures the former playground with abundant planting, generous steps, an outdoor workshop, and an oversized canopy that shelters the new main entrance to the building. Inside a refurbished hallway, a large studio-kitchen and inclusive access facilities offer residents and visitors an enhanced experience. These first strategic alterations to the building are realised as gestures of welcome, strengthening the relationship between the organisation and the surrounding city, as well as between visitors and residents. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) writes that Primary is a 'dynamic artistic hub' and that the 'careful repurposing of the historic building ensures its long-term preservation.' Meanwhile, ongoing knowledge exchange, participation and engagement between artists and audiences strengthen Primary as a unique cultural asset. This refreshing space fosters collaboration, creativity and community, reaching beyond its immediate neighbourhood to inspire and connect people from all walks of life.' @riba @ribaeastmidlands @ribajournal @pricegore @joffcasciani @oliverwood @aceagrams @archhfund @westonfdn #ribaaward #buildingoftheyear

Performed and voiced by @adam.seidtahir and @aminaseidtahir , ‘Rehearsing Texture’, filmed in Gallery 2 during our current exhibition, ‘Queer Texture’, is a filmic resource commissioned by our curator and shot by filmmaker @reecestraw . The film documents a rehearsal for ‘to unearth the sun’ by the sibling artist duo within the exhibition installation. The duo’s newly commissioned performance and installation moves through darkness, gesture and vocalisation, using the body to sense and wayfind in an imagined world where the sun is underground. Unfolding slowly across the soil-covered platform in Gallery 2, the work explores repetition, echo and collective attunement through movement and an 8.1-channel sound installation. Reflecting on the curator’s research trip to Manchester Art Gallery in 2023 with fellow neurodivergent practitioners Nikita Gill and Yewande Odunubi, the idea of ‘rehearsing rehearsals’ resurfaced through conversations around Jade de Montserrat’s publication ‘A Reimagining of Relations’ and wider methodologies of collective practice and care. Here, rehearsal becomes a process of learning how to move and exist together before a performance fully takes shape. — Image Description: A low-lit film inside Gallery 2 of ‘Queer Texture’. Two performers move across a soil-covered platform illuminated by warm light beneath the surface. 🎥 Watch the full film via our ‘Queer Texture’ project page. weareprimary.org — Credits Raisa Kabir, Adam Seid Tahir, Amina Seid Tahir and Qualeasha Wood Installation views and preview at Primary, Nottingham Curated by Jade Foster Photography and videography by Reece Straw Straw has filmed the work of Mexico-born, Los Angeles-based artist Carmen Argote and Larry Achiampong. Achiampong was BAFTA longlisted in 2023 and nominated for the Jarman Award in 2021 and 2024. Supported by the Henry Moore Foundation; the Paul Hamlyn Foundation; Arts Council England; IASPIS/Konstnärsnämnden, the Swedish Arts Grants Committee; and The Exhibitions Group. @henrymoorefdn_grants @paulhamlynfoundation @swedish_arts_grants_committee @theexhibitionsgroup @aceagrams #WeArePrimary #QueerTexture

Voiced by @raisa_kabir_textiles_ , this video, filmed in Gallery 1 during our current exhibition, ‘Queer Texture’, brings together the work of exhibiting artists Raisa Kabir and @qualeasha , offering an intimate reflection on how Kabir encounters and responds to Wood’s practice. There is a genuine closeness between these two remarkable artists, despite never having met in person. Although Wood is not present within the film itself, she remains deeply felt through Kabir’s care, attention and articulation. — Image Description: A fast-moving video for ‘Queer Texture’ at Primary, featuring work by Raisa Kabir and Qualeasha Wood. The video cuts between close-up details of woven textiles, hanging threads, embroidered surfaces and digitally altered portraits in bright pink, orange, yellow, blue and green. A wide gallery shot shows a tall textile work suspended in a white exhibition space. Other clips focus on dense strands of thread, stitched textures, shimmering fabric and digital imagery moving across a screen. Text appears throughout with the exhibition title, artists’ names, venue and dates: 25 April – 18 July 2026. The overall feel is colourful, tactile and layered, bringing together textiles, digital culture and queer visual language through texture, movement and light. 🎥 Watch the full film and explore more resources on our ‘Queer Texture’ project page via the link in our bio. — Credits Raisa Kabir, Adam Seid Tahir, Amina Seid Tahir and Qualeasha Wood Installation views and preview at Primary, Nottingham Curated by Jade Foster Photography and videography by Reece Straw Supported by the Henry Moore Foundation; Paul Hamlyn Foundation; Arts Council England; IASPIS/Konstnärsnämnden (the Swedish Arts Grants Committee); and The Exhibitions Group. @henrymoorefdn_grants @paulhamlynfoundation @swedish_arts_grants_committee @theexhibitionsgroup @aceagrams #WeArePrimary #QueerTexture

Join our team We are seeking a Deputy Director to play a key role in implementing Primary’s strategic direction and strengthening the organisation’s skills, knowledge, and capacity. This is a pivotal role for someone with fundraising and financial expertise, and a genuine commitment to supporting the organisation’s future. * Deputy Director Application Deadline: Sunday 31 May 2026, 11pm For further information on this role and how to apply please see #linkinbio Image Description: A yellow-tinted photograph of people gathered at an outdoor event at Primary forms the background. White text overlaid on the image reads: “Join our team”. #joinourteam #recruitment #opportunities #artsjobs

‘att gräva fram solen’ (to unearth the sun) by Adam Seid Tahir & Amina Seid Tahir Co-commissioned by Botkyrka Konsthall and Primary Performed in Nottingham for one night only — 24 April 2026 A choreography of soil, sound and light. Two performers dig through darkness to find the sun — echolocating like bats, singing ililta. Each gesture draws out breath, vibration and the labour of becoming. This is not a metaphor. It is an excavation. A body meets earth. A voice meets frequency. During 'kaamos' in Jukkasjärvi, the sun — like community — is found again and again underground. So, we invite you to feel and hear what they have left behind, tomorrow in our new show 'Queer Texture'. The exhibition continues Thursday–Saturday, 10 am – 5 pm. Image Description: A dimly lit gallery space with a raised platform covered in dark soil, surrounded by an 8.1-channel sound installation. Two performers move slowly across the surface, their bodies low to the ground as they dig and gesture through the earth. One performer lies close to two speakers and a subwoofer, vocalising into a microphone so that their voice vibrates through the sound system and back into their body. Soft, warm light glows from beneath the soil in small patches, suggesting something emerging from below. The performers appear to be listening and responding to sound, using their voices and bodies to navigate the space. An audience stands around the edges of the platform, watching quietly in the low light. The atmosphere is immersive, with a focus on texture, sound and subtle movement. — 🔥 On view until 18 July 2026 Raisa Kabir, Adam Seid Tahir, Amina Seid Tahir, Qualeasha Wood Installation views and the preview at Primary, Nottingham Curated by Jade Foster Photography: Reece Straw Supported by the Henry Moore Foundation; the Paul Hamlyn Foundation; Arts Council England; IASPIS, Konstnärsnämnden (the Swedish Arts Grants Committee); and The Exhibitions Group. #QueerTexture #WeArePrimary #PrimaryNottingham

Image Description: A sequence of installation views from 'Queer Texture' at Primary, Nottingham. The exhibition takes place across two gallery spaces. The first images show Gallery 1, a large ground-floor space with white walls and natural light. Several long suspended textile sculptures hang from the ceiling and extend towards the floor. Brightly coloured woven works are installed on the walls nearby. Sunlight enters through tall windows and casts shadows across the gallery floor. Closer views show the surface detail of woven materials, including layered fibres, threads and glass seed beads. One tapestry incorporates imagery that references digital interfaces and online visual culture. One image shows an acrylic Braille wall label designed and made in April 2026 by the curator with support from Julian Bishop using laser cutting. The label, and others in the exhibition, are touchable by visitors and are installed beside the works as integrated elements of the display, forming part of the fabric of the show rather than appearing as separate interpretive access provisions. Their design foregrounds the primacy of touch within Queer Texture. The last few images show Gallery 2, a darker space containing a raised platform covered with soil. Warm light glows through the soil from light panels installed beneath the surface. An 8.1‑channel sound installation distributes voices and audio across speakers throughout the space, forming an immersive multi‑channel sound work. Visitors are shown gently interacting with the installation using their hands and holding sculptural triangular frame elements placed within the space. Participation is optional. Play, touch, feel, hear, see and be with texture. — 🚪 On view until 18 July 2026 Raisa Kabir, Adam Seid Tahir, Amina Seid Tahir, Qualeasha Wood Installation views and the preview at Primary, Nottingham Curated by Jade Foster Photography: Reece Straw Supported by the Henry Moore Foundation; the Paul Hamlyn Foundation; Arts Council England; IASPIS, Konstnärsnämnden (the Swedish Arts Grants Committee); and The Exhibitions Group. #QueerTexture #WeArePrimary #PrimaryNottingham

'Secondary #3': Ian Nesbitt — 'Intersections Commission #4', 2016 Whilst you’re eating your dinner or tea (we could go into which one it is, but let's leave that for another Secondary) — we have some quiet reading for you. From those conversations grew ‘The Commoners’ Fair’, a gathering shaped by time-banking, mutual exchange and the everyday economies that hold communities together. And from that, ‘Tell Me Something I Don’t Know’ — a format that treated knowledge as something we hold in common not something we gatekeep. This third Secondary honours the twelve years of heart that Rebecca Beinart, our outgoing Collaborative Programme Lead, has put into listening. Beinart’s happy place is the garden, it’s the cracks where the weeds grow (Raju Rage) and the life-affirming (Hood Futures Studio) moments away from institutional watchers — in the kitchen and other semi-private or private spaces. It’s no surprise then that Becky still loves programming a drop-in today: Friday morning gardening, Wednesday after-school play, the open-door rhythm that keeps Primary porous. Social practice has always adored the drop-in because it lowers the pressure, softens the threshold and lets people arrive on their own terms. But it isn’t automatically accessible. There are still barriers — the uncertainty of entering a new space, the sensory unpredictability, the quiet question of 'am I allowed?' A stronger drop‑in means naming the unknowns and hosting with continuity, clarity and care. So much of Primary’s present was seeded in 2016 and has been held, tended and grown by collaborators of mine and Becky’s. We’ve tried to listen together with gumption and intention — sometimes getting it wrong, sometimes getting it right. As facilitators, we study our choices and work towards a more caring economics, not one of scarcity. I don’t know if we’ve found it, but it feels like time to pause and see how far we’ve come — long enough to smell the roses. More? Our Research page on weareprimary.org 🌐 — Credits Ian Nesbitt, 'Intersections Commission #4' (April–December 2016) ‘The Commoners’ Fair’, 2016 TMSIDK Reflection with Rebecca Lee and Ian Nesbitt #PrimarysSecondary #Intersections

Tomorrow. 33 Seely Road, NG7 1NU Live Performance, 'att gräva fram solen' (Amina Seid Tahir & Adam Seid Tahir): 6:30 pm Performance-Lecture, 'MOUTH' (Jade Foster): 6:50 pm Performance Intervention (The Velvet Acronyms): 7:00 pm We will see you there. – Supported by @henrymoorefdn_grants Image Description: The first image, a graphic cover image with a dark grain-textured background. A curved arc of rainbow light moves across the lower half of the image. Centred above it, white capital letters read ‘QUEER TEXTURE’. The second image, a performer kneels on a raised soil platform, speaking into a microphone as a small warm light glows from the surface beneath them. An audience gathers around the edges of the dimly lit gallery watching the performance. Image Credit: Hanna Ukura

Announcing… Studio A4: Raisa Kabir ✨ Primary opens our 2026 Studio A4 programme in our Grade II listed building with artist and weaver Raisa Kabir, the first resident of the year and continuing the work developed through our 2025 programme. — We don’t talk about flexibility enough. Studios are so often imagined as places for constant production — for objects, for presence, for output. But 'doing' can also be thinking and sometimes it’s okay for nothing to take form at all. Residencies should create possibilities, not enforce labour. As an organisation we ask how we can support someone when things don’t unfold as planned — when illness, shifting capacities or different rates and paces of working shape the process. How do we accept what we can't control in our creative processes? Kabir spent 2–31 March 2026 with the studio absent of finished objects and it is only now in April that forms begin to emerge. Raisa’s practice holds disability justice as a material and political commitment — working through interdependence, hybridity and a clear responsibility to the history of cloth and thread that alert us to how woven the implications of trade and movement are in shaping the worlds around us, especially what is left for us to pick up the pieces. Over the next few days on site, she will be transforming walking sticks into looms, creating 5‑metre textile works suspended from the gallery ceiling. 💭 This period for Raisa to think and now make leads into 'Queer Texture', opening 24 April, 5 pm (Quiet Time), and continuing from 6 pm to 9 pm. Join us as we gather for an evening shaped by queer and disabled joy and graft. The 'Studio A4' residency and commission is supported by the Henry Moore Foundation (@henrymoorefdn_grants ). Image Description: Portrait of artist Raisa Kabir standing beside a wooden weaving loom in a gallery setting. She faces the camera with a relaxed expression and wears a black top with a patterned floral jacket and a gold necklace. The background includes framed artworks on the wall and the structure of the loom visible to her right. Image Credit: Angela Dennis. #QueerTexture #WeArePrimary #StudioA4 #PrimaryNottingham

Primary’s ‘Build Create Play’ (2019- 2024) was a long-term project working with local families and young people around Ronald Street Playground in Radford, Nottingham. Located opposite @weareprimary , the playground was a neglected space identified for redevelopment. Artists Gina Mollett, Charlotte Tupper and Ismail Khokon delivered experimental play sessions exploring materials, shapes and colours that sparked children’s imaginations, while also building an understanding of how the playground was used and how it might be improved. Following years of sustained engagement with local children, working in partnership with playworkers from The Toy Library, ‘Build Create Play’ evolved to include the creation of a public artwork that reflected their ideas about play, designed by artist Ismail Khokon and funded by Nottingham City Council. Rebecca Beinart, Collaborative Programme Lead at @weareprimary , will present 'Build, Create, Play' at our upcoming online Constellations ° Assembly ‘A Right to Decide: Empowering Children to Shape Cultural Space’. Beinart’s practice focusses on creating opportunities for artists to work with communities. 🗓️6 May 2026 🕒14:00–15:15 BST 📍 Online 🔗 Find out more and book now via the link in bio @beckybeinart @weareprimary @ismaildiverse @thetuppermuseum @thetoylibrarysince1978 @freddy.griffiths @nottmparks 📷 Ismail Khokon and Freddy Griffiths.