Art Work Exeter: Custom Made:

In 2023 Art Work Exeter were delighted to have been appointed a ‘Cultural Partner’ at Exeter Custom House, delivering a lively programme of arts-focused and creative community events around the theme of ‘Customs and Duties’.

Their final showcase begins on 2nd June with Custom Made, a retrospective exhibition sharing highlights, glimpses and traces from the projects they’ve developed as part of their residency.

The programme ends during the weekend 26th-28th June with The Considerate Society, a collaboration with associate artists and members of the community that will turn the Custom House into a hotbed of creative conversation and thoughtful provocation.

Taking inspiration from local and international Salon culture of the past and present, The Considerate Society will convene 6 artist and community-led gatherings over the weekend. Each event has been carefully designed to consider some of the pressing themes and questions that have arisen during Art Work Exeter’s time as cultural
partners.

This exciting weekend takeover invites people from all walks of life to come together through good hospitality and cultural celebration, to consider some of the things that really matter to us.

Key dates:

Custom Made: Residency retrospective exhibition in the Gallery at Exeter Custom House. From 2nd – 28th June. Free

The gallery space at Exeter Custom House will be filled with artifacts and elements from the company’s three year residency at the Quayside. Expect video, sculpture, sound works, documentary photographs. Prints, booklets and items available for sale.

The Listening Room: Friday 26th June, 7pm – 9pm. The Long Room. Pay What You Can (Ticketed).

Join dual heritage sound artist Somatic with his Sutra sound system and special guests as they consider the relationship between listening and life stories. This deep listening and conversation experience will invite three members of the Exeter community to share moments of their lives through music.
Book here

The Welcome Committee: Saturday 27th June, 10.30am – 12.00pm. The Long Room. Free/Donation on the door. Refreshments included.

Join artist Adam Garratt as he unveils a co-created welcome banner and complementary new artworks outside the Custom House. This will be followed by a coffee morning conversation to consider the relationship between arriving and feeling welcome.

Solidaritea: Saturday 27th June, 2pm – 3.30pm. The Long Room. Free/Donation on the door. (Booking Advised). Refreshments included.

Join yoga therapist and teacher Sonia Rashid and artist activist Yara El-Sherbini as they host a conversation salon to consider the relationship between hospitality and solidarity. They will be serving tea, blended in a Solidaritea workshop with some of Exeter’s women activists.
Book here

A Cut Up Cabaret: 27th June, 7pm – 9pm. The Long Room. Pay What You Can.
(Ticketed) Event-appropriate snacks and refreshments available.

Join artists Stephen Hodge and Matt Fletcher and Cultural Knowledge Exchange member Gosia Zając for an evening of experimental cabaret and conversational exchange that considers the relationship between international shippage and linguistic slippage. Drawing inspiration from Zurich Dada’s Cabaret Voltaire and Krakow’s Zielony Balonik (Green Balloon), we will plunder, break apart, reconfigure and perform texts relating to the Custom House and Exeter’s historic trade.
Book here

Views from the Veranda: 28th June, 11am-2pm. Free. Drop-in.

Join Nadia Lewis-Gorton and friends to share your views from a make-shift veranda in front of the Custom House. Everyone will be welcome at any time during the session, to enjoy a Jamaican sorrel drink (non-alcoholic version) and help us consider the relationship between private and civic life.

A Custom Made Conversation: 28th June, 3pm – 4.30pm. The Long Room. Free.

Join the Art Work Exeter collaborating team – Stuart Crewes, Paula Crutchlow & Volkhardt Mueller as they are hosted in conversation about their 3 year residency at the Custom House, considering the relationship between ambitions and legacies.