United Kingdom

A pioneering celebration of drawing returns to Trinity Buoy Wharf in London

“Drawing has seen something of a renaissance in the last twenty years in the UK”, wrote Professor Anita Taylor in The Guardian in 2014. An upcoming exhibition, the annual Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize celebrates this revival of drawing in London’s historic Docklands.

Until recently, resources and opportunities for drawing were few and far between. It was to bridge this gap that the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize was created in 1994. Led since by its founding Director, Professor Anita Taylor, Dean of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at the University of Dundee, and supported by Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust, this open exhibition has established a reputation for championing excellence in contemporary drawing practice. 2019 marks the 25th anniversary of the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize.

The 68 drawings selected for the 2019 exhibition by Chantal Joffe RA, Andrew Nairne OBE and Dr Dorothy Price successfully toured to The Salisbury Museum before coming to London. They will be on show in The Chainstore at Trinity Buoy Wharf from 18 January to 1 February 2020. The exhibition will be open daily from 11am to 4pm and be free to see.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a wide range of events, held in The Chainstore at Trinity Buoy Wharf. Numerous artists and leading industry professionals will present talks and workshops that celebrate drawing, explore its role, and encourage everyone to participate, with materials supplied by Cass Art.

Saturday 18 January - Drawing Session: Explore Making and Using Sketchbooks, with designer Jude Maguire (book here)

Sunday 19 January and Monday 20th January - Drawing workshops and portfolio advice sessions for students, with Frances Stevenson from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at the University of Dunde (book here)

Tuesday 21 January - Drawing Session: On Drawing Memories with artist Charmaine Watkiss (book here)

Wednesday 22 January - Drawing Session: Drawing from Life for students with the Royal Drawing School (book here)

Thursday 23 January - Professional development talk for artists: Social Media for Artists & Creatives with Marine Costello from Parker Harris (book here)

Friday 24 January - Workshop: Drawing for Sculpture with Andy Bannister (book here)

Saturday 25 January - Drawing Discussion: On Working Drawings chaired by Anita Taylor at 1pm.

Sunday 26 January - Drawing Session: Sketch Club - Collaborative Cityscape, with Jeanette Barnes (book here)

Monday 27 January - Discussion: Drawing and Stitch

Tuesday 28 January - Drawing Session: Drawing Faces in Ink with artist Fiona Roberts (book here)

Wednesday 29 January - Drawing Session: Drawing from Life with the Royal Drawing School (book here)

Thursday 30 January - Professional development talk for artists: Building and Sustaining a Professional Career with Emma Parker and Penny Harris from Parker Harris (book here)

Friday 31 January - Director’s Talk with Anita Taylor (book here) and Drawing reception

Saturday 1 February - Drawing Discussion: On Transcription with Penny McCarthy and Anita Taylor at 11am.

According to the International Migrant Stock 2019 the UN revealed that the number of migrants worldwide has risen by almost a quarter since the beginning of the decade. By 2019, there were 272 million immigrants, 51 million more than in 2010. Over two fifths of all international migrants worldwide in 2019 had been born in Europe (61 million) or in Central and Southern Asia (50 million). So how does this affect the sense of home? Is home where you come from or the place you go? I ask what home means to someone who never lived where one comes from and if home is even a place to locate.

I believe the search of home is deeply connected with the search of oneself, because someone does not always belong where someone started. While for some people the importance lays in the past, for others it is located in the future. Taiye Selasi (writer and photographer) asked a very interesting question during her TED Talk : “What are we seeking when we ask where someone comes from? And what are we seeing when we hear the answer?” We are much more than where we are from. Identity is something triggered by the outside but created by the inside. So when the focus shifts from looking for a locality towards creating a relation, home can be defined as the sum of all experiences which brought one closer to oneself. Home is then no longer on the outside but much more on the inside.

In conclusion, home can be where we come from. It also can be where we go. But by stopping movement, we can not only find the way home but also realise that home is where we are, because home is within.

The exhibiton is addressing artists who challenge the essence of home and reflect on the aspects of existence including ‘rituals, relationships and restrictions’ (cf. Taiye Selasi). Focussing on both praise and critical reflection, „The sensation of home” invites the artists as well as the audience to examine multiple alternatives and unexpected perspectives. What is the aesthetic of home? What does home mean in our multicultural and international societies? And what answers are coming from the artists of our time?