Art from Elsewhere: International Contemporary Art from UK Galleries

David Elliott, a curator of international status and experience, has curated an exhibition of major international works which were recently collected by six museums across the UK. The Art Fund International scheme, launched in 2007, allocated each institution up to £1m to invest in acquisitions from international artists over a period of five years. The successful collections were Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery with The New Art Gallery Walsall, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), Glasgow, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (mima) and Towner, Eastbourne.

Amongst the art collected, Elliott has discovered common themes that are explored by the artists. Their works reflect on the realities of global change and post-colonial experiences, and also examine the question of failed utopias, proposing new ideas of exchange and value for the common good. Art from Elsewhere features works on paper, video, sculpture and painting and includes some of the most important contemporary artists working today.

The full list of exhibiting artists is (not all shown at all venues): Ai Weiwei, Shirin Aliabadi, Carl Andre, Stephen Antonakos, Yto Barrada, Yael Bartana, Lothar Baumgarten, Mohamed Bourouissa, Robert Breer, Paulo Bruscky, Nathan Carter, Thomas Demand, Eugenio Dittborn, Omer Fast, Meschac Gaba, Shilpa Gupta, Romuald Hazoumè, Michael Heizer, Jenny Holzer, Peter Hujar, Emily Jacir, Jitish Kallat , Amar Kanwar, Ola Kolehmainen , Barbara Kruger, Ana Mendieta , Aleksandra Mir, Zwelethu Mthethwa , Imran Qureshi , Jozef Robakowski, Shahzia Sikander, Robert Smithson, Nancy Spero, Beat Streuli , Kara Walker , Yang Zhenzhong, YeeSookyung, Akram Zaatari, and Horacio Zabala.

The exhibition will change from city to city, taking care to highlight the five collections, but not repeating artworks that the museum might have exhibited recently. In this way, each showing will take a unique form and will provide an array of interpretations for the visitor and gallery alike.

Tour dates:

Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), Glasgow 24 October to 1 February 2015

Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery 14 February to 31 May 2015

Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (mima) 19 June to 27 September 2015

Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston 10 October to 28 November 2015

Towner, Eastbourne 23 January to 3 April 2016

Bristol Museum & Art Gallery and Arnolfini 22 April to 17 July 2016