22–25 May 2026 | Safehouse 1, Peckham, London

Collective Voices Exhibition 2nd Edition: Being-in-the-World opened at Safehouse 1 in Peckham on 22nd of May, bringing together over 50 artists in a large-scale, artist-led exhibition exploring identity, visibility, and contemporary lived experience through multidisciplinary practice. Curated by Jenny Ping Lam Lin , with assistant curator Stephanie Leung, the exhibition continues the JustArt Collective’s commitment to creating accessible platforms for emerging and international artists.

Rather than functioning as a conventional themed group exhibition, Being-in-the-World operates as a shared curatorial space where individual voices are placed in dialogue rather than hierarchy. The result is an environment shaped not by a single narrative, but by a collective accumulation of perspectives, experiences, and artistic approaches.

International Collective

The exhibition features participating artists from the United Kingdom, Europe, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Ireland, the United States and etc, reflecting a wide geographic and cultural range of practices. This diversity is embedded within the structure of the exhibition itself, allowing differences in medium, methodology, and cultural perspective to coexist without forced unification.

Participating artists include:

Aitor Moncho Tudanca, Abibat Adedayo, Anh, Anna Tuhus, Bahar Talebi Najafabadi, Baoyue Zhang, Baranika Sureshkumar, Chaeyeon Kang, Claire Moss, Claudi Piripippi, Esther/Zhilin Xiang, Galina Orlenko, Heather Green, Helen Carr, Henryk Terpilowski, Ikkonz Jin, Jingxi Li, Jingyun Guan, Jonathan Armour, Jordan Leung, Jose Luis Rodriguez, Josh Redman, Lara Gallagher, Mariia Timoshenko, Marvi Khan, Maryam Sandjari Hashemi, Mathijs Hunfeld, Mengzhu Li, Mollie Faye Harris, Mulin Qiao, Natalia Graczyk, Natalia Titova, Nataliia Makina, Neil Wheelock Deforest Smith, Peng Shuo, Persephone NG, Peter Léon, Pip Woolf, Puyi Guo, Qingran Liu, Rachel Larkum, Reeve Hart, Ruonan Shen, Scott O’Sullivan, Sen, Seoyoung Park, Seyda Alkin, ShEmAinn, Shinobu SENOO, Stela Brix, Tia Liu, Tianle Zhao, Tutu Tugce Sonmez, Victoria Julia Valentine (VJV Creative), Xiaoxiao Chen, Xiwen Xu, Yeejing Ooi, Yumeng Wang, and Zhan Shu.

Venue and Atmosphere

Hosted at Safehouse 1 in Peckham, the exhibition occupies a space widely recognised within London’s independent art scene for its raw industrial architecture and experimental approach to exhibition-making. The venue’s stripped-back structure and open spatial layout play a significant role in shaping the viewer’s experience, encouraging fluid movement between works and allowing unexpected relationships to emerge between different artistic practices.

Rather than functioning as a neutral container, the space becomes an active part of the exhibition’s atmosphere. Its openness supports a sense of immediacy and shared presence, reinforcing the curatorial intention of collective engagement rather than isolated viewing.

Visitors and participating artists responded positively to the curatorial selection, spatial arrangement, and overall presentation, with many noting the strength of dialogue between works and the clarity of the exhibition’s collective vision.

Opening Event

The opening evening welcomed over 100 visitors and began with a live flute performance by Cathy Tsang, featuring BÄCK: Sonata for Solo Flute, 1st Movement and Wil Offermans: Honami for Solo Flute. The performance introduced a quiet, reflective atmosphere to the space, temporarily shifting attention from visual works into sound and embodied presence.

This was followed by an artist panel discussion introduced by curator Jenny Lin and assistant curator Stephanie Leung. Speakers included Josh Redman, Jordan Leung, Pip Woolf, Qingran Liu, Helen Carr, Victoria Julia Valentine, Tutu Tugce Sonmez, Mollie Faye Harris, Jonathan Armour, Seyda Alkin, and Stela Brix. The discussion explored artistic process, visibility, and the challenges of sustaining creative practice within contemporary cultural structures, while also highlighting the importance of collective infrastructure for independent artists.

Featured Works

Among the works that drew sustained attention was Donkeyskin (2025) by Claire Moss, which reinterprets a Charles Perrault fairytale through a contemporary lens of escape, transformation, and queer identity. The painting follows a figure’s departure from an oppressive domestic structure into a natural, symbolic landscape, using fairytale imagery to explore autonomy and emotional liberation.

Also widely discussed was Nige (2025) by Helen Carr, a mixed-media sculptural work constructed from papier mâché, acrylic paint, foam, fabric, and wire. Referencing 18th-century Lambeth Delftware, the work uses the motif of bed bugs as both a personal and political metaphor, linking domestic precarity and public health anxieties to wider systems of austerity and contemporary political tension.

Sen’s conceptual digital film Tactile Resilience (Pearl in the Palm, 2025) expanded the exhibition into a digital and sensory register. The work critically examines how capitalism and patriarchy construct and aestheticise modern womanhood, using experimental moving image to create a perceptual field of tension, reflection, and embodied viewing.

Curatorial Position

At its core, Being-in-the-World is structured around coexistence rather than resolution. It does not impose a singular reading but instead allows contradiction, overlap, and divergence to remain visible within a shared space.

In doing so, the exhibition raises broader questions about how artistic communities are formed, and how visibility, access, and representation are negotiated within contemporary cultural systems.

Conclusion

Collective Voices Exhibition 2nd Edition: Being-in-the-World demonstrates the potential of artist-led collective exhibitions as both cultural and social infrastructures. Through its international scope, multidisciplinary practices, and emphasis on dialogue, the exhibition presents not only a curated selection of works, but a temporary ecosystem of shared artistic presence and exchange.

Exhibition Information

Venue: Safehouse 1, Peckham, London
Dates: 22–25 May 2026

Exhibition Team

Curator: Jenny Ping Lam Lin
Assistant Curator: Stephanie Leung

Graphic Design: Jia Xi Zhou

Volunteers:
Zhe Li
Carmen Yu
Zhaojia Zhang

Opening Performance

Cathy Tsang (Flute)
BÄCK: Sonata for Solo Flute, 1st Movement
Wil Offermans: Honami for Solo Flute

Panel Speakers

Josh Redman
Jordan Leung
Pip Woolf
Qingran Liu
Helen Carr
Victoria Julia Valentine
Tutu Tugce Sonmez
Mollie Faye Harris
Jonathan Armour
Seyda Alkin
Stela Brix