Cambridge CB23 2TX
United Kingdom
Wysing Arts Centre is changing. By the end of 2025, a new, multi-year approach to commissioning will be underway; artists and young people will have more power in our organisation; our site will be more biodiverse and more accessible through our capital project, and we’ll have launched a new website and brand. And:
Residencies
This year’s programme brings together artists who share a deep commitment to their ecologies and entanglements. Many support the work of other artists through small-scale infrastructure, from a project space in rural Georgia in the Southern US to a political library in Birmingham, UK. Others attend to their surroundings, using found objects, charcoal, or dried flowers to bear witness to personal, environmental and collective histories.
Wysing looks forward to welcoming the following artists into the 25/26 programme: Louise Ashcroft (UK. In partnership with St Peter’s School, Huntingdon); Appau Junior Boakye-Yiadom (UK. For the final year of the three-year Donna Lynas Residency in partnership with South London Gallery, Modern Art Oxford and Somerset House, London); Mo Costello (US. Supported by Knotenpunkt, London); Intoart (UK); Hannan Jones and Shamica Ruddock (UK. In partnership with Forma and Knotenpunkt, London) Sahjan Kooner (UK. In partnership with Raspberry Pi Foundation, Cambridge); Mira Mann (Germany. Supported by Knotenpunkt, London); Samra Mayanja (UK. In partnership with Live Art Development Agency, London); Rika Nakashima (Japan. Supported by Japan House); Dala Nasser (Lebanon/UK. In partnership with Nottingham Contemporary) and Qenji Yoshida (Japan. Supported by Japan House.)
Commissions
Commissions at Wysing emerge from a sustained, multi-year commitment to each artist, and take place both on and off Wysing’s rural site. Projects span publishing, performance, film and installation, enabling diverse artistic positions and new ways of working to unfold.
Hannan Jones and Shamica Ruddock share a two-part commission that continues their sonic reflections on histories entangled across borders and time, beginning at Forma in September, and at Wysing in March. (Co-commissioned by Wysing, Forma and Knotenpunkt, London) Tai Shani will launch a new permanent artwork for the site, alongside Wysing’s capital project. Appau Junior Boakye-Yiadom will transform the facade of Wysing’s New Block. In January 2026, Dala Nasser will open her first institutional UK solo exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary, comprising a major commission produced at Wysing that departs from notions of self-determination, sovereignty, and nationhood.
Young people
Throughout the year, we will continue our commitment to supporting young people, particularly those facing rural isolation, through our Creative Youth Council. CYC welcomes 14 to 18-year-olds to our site for workshops and collaborative projects with artists. Residencies with Louise Ashcroft and Sahjan Kooner will take forward research into youth-centered approaches to co-design.
Syllabus
Syllabus is a collaboratively produced alternative learning programme that runs over a ten-month period. Established in 2015, it is a partnership between Wysing Arts Centre; Eastside Projects, Birmingham; Spike Island, Bristol; Ps², Belfast; New Art Exchange, Nottingham; SITE Gallery (guest partner); Sheffield, and Studio Voltaire (associate partner), London.
This year, we welcome ten artists into the programme: Ocean Baulcombe-Toppin, Emma Bentley-Fox, Emma Brennan, Josie KO, Hannah Leighton-Boyce, April Forrest Lin, Anouska Samms, Sym Stellium, Alexander Stubbs, and Kaiya Waerea.
Live programme
Live events curated with the artists in our programme run throughout the year. Our performance and club night Club Urania (a collaboration with Cambridge Junction, Roeland van der Heiden, Diarmuid Hester, and Celia Willoughby) runs monthly, in July our annual Open Studio will invite visitors into our studio community of over 20 artists, and later in the year, we’ll share research and ideas emerging from our commissions through gatherings onsite.
About Wysing
Wysing Arts Centre is an arts organisation in rural Cambridgeshire, UK that was established by artists and philanthropists in 1989. Through a programme of residencies, commissions, and alternative learning programmes, we enable artists and publics to engage their imagination freely, take risks and experiment. For further information about our forthcoming programme, sign up to the Wysing Arts Centre newsletter here.
