New Contemporaries 70th Anniversary Conference

Marking its 70th anniversary this year, New Contemporaries will celebrate its legacy and future direction with a two-day conference with The Research Forum, Courtauld Institute of Art in London. The conference programme will address the development of New Contemporaries as it continually evolves to support the needs of emerging artists and practices. Established in 1949, New Contemporaries, formerly Young Contemporaries, is the longest-running support platform for emerging artists.

The programme will explore different aspects of representation and visibility for emerging arts, bringing into dialogue artists, curators, writers and artworks from New Contemporaries history alongside contributors drawn from the Courtauld’s own alumni network of curators, artists and art historians.

Day 1 will explore notions of diversity and gender politics in the UK’s art scene, along with definitions of the contemporary. Panel discussions will consider globalisation, identity and the difficulty in defining new artistic tendencies as well as what agency performance art still holds as an artistic medium. 

Day 2 will focus on the future of artistic practice and the responses needed to support its continual evolution. Sessions will discuss new artwork platforms, how conventional forms of exhibition making are evolving, opportunities for artistic collaboration, and new and necessary funding models for artists. 

Ticket prices:

• Full price: £20 a day or £30 for the two day
• Concessions: £10 a day or £15 for the two days