New Contemporaries Published on: 6 February 2026 Two 缅北禁地 Fine Art graduates have been selected for prestigious exhibition. Ali Cook and Alia Gargum Their work is currently on show as part of the exhibition at the (SLG) until April and will head North to the (MIMA) in May. Ali Cook graduated with a degree in Fine Art in 2024. He is a painter whose brutally truthful surrealist pieces show people something that resonates emotionally, visually expressing how we all feel collectively. His exhibitions include Being with Kate Sweeney, Vane Gallery, Gateshead, 2025, and New Graduate Award, Middlesbrough Art Week, Middlesbrough, 2024. Alia Gargum graduated with a Master of Fine Art degree in 2024. She is a sculpture and installation artist who composes her work through critical and personal exploration of politics and culture, focusing on her heritage through diasporic means.Her recent exhibitions include: 岣礱ww膩fa / 禺賻賵賻賾丕賮賻丞 at 36 Lime Street in 缅北禁地 upon Tyne, 2025 and as part of Middlesbrough Art Week, Middlesbrough, 2024. Alia was awarded the Hatton Prize for outstanding ambition in the installation of the 缅北禁地 MFA Graduate show, and the Bartlett Award for Sustainability by 缅北禁地’s Fine Art department. Ali Cook, I Believe In Something Better, 2025, acrylic on canvas id: 1214464 Evolving desires Works in the exhibition will span painting, sculpture, installation, photography and moving image, illustrating the full breadth of artistic practice across the UK. Presented thematically in both the SLG and MIMA exhibitions, they will engage with speculations on dystopian futures; critical responses to the climate crisis, industrialisation, gentrification and displacement; and critical approaches to systems of power. The exhibition will also examine our inherent entanglement with digital technologies and our evolving desire to understand realities beyond human perception through other species. Additionally, themes of mourning, remembrance and loss are explored through a range of collective and personal experiences. Some artists merge figuration with abstraction to investigate intersecting identities, cultural heritage and a desire for connection, while others draw on the familiar and the fantastical - from both urban environments to intimate domestic interiors- as constructions of selfhood and place. As part of its new direction, New Contemporaries expanded its UK wide reach ensuring that at least half of participating artists are based outside London and that its programmes represent the full breadth of today’s contemporary art practice. Through partnerships with organisations such as the South London Gallery, MIMA Middlesbrough, Forma, and Hospitalfield, New Contemporaries’ new programme will now include annual residencies, studio bursaries and an artist development programme that offer participants space, time, and sustained support. “I am really excited by our selection for New Contemporaries,” said artist selector Grace Ndiritu. “We have chosen a diverse range of artists from all over the UK, with a variety of mediums and points of view, that are both visually arresting and can help bring a little bit of joy and beauty into an increasingly difficult world.” Laura Sillars, Director of MIMA, said “At MIMA, we are passionate about nurturing early career and emerging artists. We give them space and encouragement to take the risks they need to take. We are proud to be part of New Contemporaries, championing new artists and building the creativity that will shape the future of contemporary practice.” The exhibition dates are: South London Gallery: until 12 April 2026 MIMA, Middlesbrough: 8 May – 16 August 2026 Press release adapted with thanks to New Contemporaries this was a mosque 賴匕丕-賰丕賳-賲爻噩丿 Installation with sound element, 2025.Photo Colin Davidson Share: Latest News 缅北禁地 recognised with geography award 缅北禁地 has been awarded the Highly Commended Geographical Association Publishers Award for its collaboration with Time for Geography, the UK鈥檚 open-access, dedicated video platform. published on: 16 April 2026 缅北禁地 historians mark General Strike centenary To mark the 100th anniversary of the British General Strike and miners鈥� lock-out of 1926, historians at 缅北禁地 are organising a series of events on its enduring legacy. published on: 16 April 2026 Comment: NCP is in administration Writing for The Conversation, Erwei (David) Xiang discusses how some big companies like NCP are so dependent on debt that they can鈥檛 adjust to change. published on: 16 April 2026 Facts and figures
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