On view: 16th September 2025 - 18th January 2026
Feelings in Common is a contemporary group exhibition bringing together works of 29 artists from the British Council Collection, which has been acquiring works since the 1930s, and comprises almost 9000 works, focusing on the 20th and 21st century art from the United Kingdom. This valuable collection, which does not form a permanent exhibition, and is mostly lent to international exhibitions has been referred to as a "museum without walls."
In museums, which can be defined as spaces of encounter, the common feelings triggered by the works infectiously wander between those who share the space and carry the potential of bringing individuals together on a common ground. Throughout the history of Western philosophy, feelings represented the weaker side of the logic and feeling duality, and when a work of art is said to "address feelings", this has come to suggest that it is insufficient, intellectually poor, or decorative. In today's political climate, when we feel ever more intensely the way in which Western-centred rational thought and colonial approaches are driving systems towards total collapse, could we chart a new course by problematising this duality and focusing on feelings in common?
Feelings in Common focuses not only on the task of collections and institutions to preserve and protect the past, but also on their potential to establish strong links with today's social and political dynamics. The sticky and infectious nature of feelings means that museums are not only spaces where works are held, but also function as dynamic spaces that contain an embracive imagination. In this process, the effort of institutions to sustain care, and to make this polyphonic community feel at home, reinforces this possibility.
Visit the Museum's website here
