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A major touring exhibition bringing together works that depict different realities of profound global change.

A window on a changing world

This spring, Arnolfini and Bristol Museum & Art Gallery are working together to present a compelling exhibition of video, installation, photography and painting across two sites in central Bristol.

Art from Elsewhere gathers 37 significant artists from 22 countries, whose socially-engaged work addresses life, politics and identity in a globalised society. The exhibition includes some of the most important artists working today, seminal figures in the history of conceptual art, and young artists whose work enters British museums for the first time.

The culmination of a national tour, this specially-conceived and ambitious presentation for Bristol reflects the city’s historic significance as a port, our diverse cultures, and our place within a rapidly-changing world. The artworks pose fresh perspectives, new identities, glimpses of other lives, and important questions: not least, who is the insider and who is the outsider?

Art from Elsewhere was born from a 2007 scheme, Art Fund International, which gave a regional consortium of museums the opportunity to spend up to one million pounds to acquire international art for the benefit of the public. The successful collections were Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery with The New Art Gallery Walsall, Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art and Towner, Eastbourne. Jeremy Lewison, who has since become an Arnolfini Trustee, was mentor to the project, helping Bristol Museum & Art Gallery to devise a collecting strategy and, he and Tom Trevor, Arnolfini former director, provided advice to Bristol Museum & Art Gallery regarding their choice of new acquisitions.

This Hayward Touring exhibition, curated by internationally-renowned curator David Elliott, highlights newly-collected works purchased through the scheme, and recognises the vital importance of continuing to enrich and share the collecting of contemporary art.

Artists exhibited at Arnolfini

Shirin Aliabadi, Carl Andre, Stephen Antonakos, Yto Barrada, Lothar Baumgarten, Paulo Bruscky, Meschac Gaba, Jenny Holzer, Emily Jacir, Jitish Kallat, Amar Kanwar, Imran Qureshi, Rashid Rana, Józef Robakowski, Robert Smithson, Beat Streuli, Akram Zaatari and Horacio Zabala.

Artists exhibited at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery

Bani Abidi, Yael Bartana, Mohamed Bourouissa, Robert Breer, Nathan Carter, Thomas Demand, Eugenio Dittborn, Omer Fast, Cao Fei, Shilpa Gupta, Peter Hujar, Ola Kolehmainen, Barbara Kruger, Glenn Ligon, Ana Mendieta, Adrian Piper, Shahzia Sikander, Nancy Spero, Kara Walker, Ai Weiwei and Yeesookyung.

Download the exhibition guide here and the family activity sheet here.

Audio descriptions

There are four audio described pieces in the exhibition. Ask at Box Office for a Discovery Pen to listen in the gallery or download here:

Gallery 1

Sweatopia (The Cry of the Gland 2) by Jitish Kallat

Brasilian Bank by Meschac Gaba

Gallery 2

Sleepers by Yto Barrada

Gallery 3

The 13th History of the Human Face by Eugenio Dittborn

Art from Elsewhere is accompanied by an extensive programme of tours, talks, performances and family events, offering numerous ways for you to engage with and explore the exhibition themes. Choose your route, share your perspective, from here or elsewhere.

Exhibition Spotlight Tours 

Arnolfini’s volunteer team lead regular informal exhibition tours throughout Art From Elsewhere. 

Tours are free & you can turn up on the day. Meet in the foyer.

Wednesday 25 May, 6.30pm

Saturday 28 May, 2pm

Wednesday 8 June, 6.30pm

Saturday 11 June, 2pm

Wednesday 22 June, 6.30pm

Saturday 9 July, 2pm