Late Night Art

Thursday 6th November 5-8PM

Lower and Upper Gallery

Join us on Late Night Art at Golden Thread Gallery to explore Radical Hope and design a tote bag in our Hub!

Refreshments provided, and all materials for tote bag making provided.

About

Golden Thread Gallery is proud to present Radical Hope, a new exhibition developed in collaboration with Arsenal Gallery in Białystok, Poland. Curated from Collection II, one of Poland’s most significant collections of contemporary art, the exhibition offers a timely reflection on uncertainty, resilience, and the transformative potential of art.

Collection II, held by the Arsenal Gallery and shaped under the direction of Monika Szewczyk, traces the evolving landscape of contemporary art in Poland and Eastern Europe over the past three decades. Developed as an ‘open corpus,’ the collection is a living archive: dynamic, growing, and responsive to the shifting narratives of our time.

The exhibition takes its title and inspiration from Radical Hope, a book by philosopher Jonathan Lear. In his foreword to the Polish edition, Piotr Nowak articulates three urgent questions that underpin the exhibition:

• How does one live in a world that has suddenly lost all meaning?
• Is hope conceivable in such a world?
• If so, what language can express it?

From Białystok to Belfast, these questions resonate deeply. Though Poland has not been directly involved in the war in Ukraine, the suppression of protests in Belarus, or the unrest in Georgia, the psychological and political impact of these regional upheavals is deeply felt. A growing sense of threat, helplessness, and disorientation has unsettled the sense of security once taken for granted.

Radical Hope does not offer easy answers. Instead, it asks whether art can be a guide through uncertain times. Can artists, through their vision and practice, help us perceive new meanings and imagine futures not yet written?

The exhibition is made possible through the support of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, fostering international dialogue through the arts. It marks a unique collaboration between Golden Thread Gallery and Arsenal Gallery, two institutions committed to contemporary artistic practices that question, confront, and reimagine the world in which we live.

Accessibility 

The exhibition is across both the Lower Gallery and Upper Gallery. The Lower Gallery is accessed via the ground floor, which is step-free. The Upper Gallery is accessed via lift from the ground floor or via the main staircase.

Large print versions of exhibition texts are available.

Please let us know if you have any questions or additional requirements, we are working hard to make the gallery as accessible as possible for everyone.

Golden Thread Gallery is supported by: