Being-in-the-World opens at Safehouse with collective dialogue

Being-in-the-World at – Collective Voices Exhibition 2nd Edition: Being-in-the-World opened at Safehouse 1 in Peckham on 22 May 2026, bringing together over 50 artists across the UK, Europe, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Ireland, the United States and more—centered on identit

On the evening of 22 May 2026, Safehouse 1 in Peckham didn’t feel like a typical gallery stop. More than 100 visitors arrived for an opening that began with breath and sound—Cathy Tsang playing BÄCK: Sonata for Solo Flute, 1st Movement, followed by Wil Offermans: Honami for Solo Flute.

The notes didn’t just add atmosphere. They shifted attention from walls and artworks into something more embodied and shared. as Collective Voices Exhibition 2nd Edition: Being-in-the-World settled into its core idea: identity and contemporary lived experience don’t arrive as one story. They arrive as overlapping voices.

Curated by Jenny Ping Lam Lin. with assistant curator Stephanie Leung. Being-in-the-World opened at Safehouse 1 in Peckham on 22 May 2026. running through 25 May 2026. Over 50 artists are brought together in a large-scale, artist-led exhibition exploring identity, visibility, and contemporary lived experience through multidisciplinary practice.

International scope isn’t treated as decoration here. 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.

That geographic spread—spanning the United Kingdom. Europe. China. Hong Kong. Japan. South Korea. Ireland. the United States and etc.—is embedded in the exhibition’s structure. Differences in medium, methodology, and cultural perspective are allowed to coexist without being pressed into a single unified message.

The venue matters, too. 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 stripped-back structure and open spatial layout encourage fluid movement between works, so relationships can surface unexpectedly between different practices. The space isn’t treated as a neutral container; it becomes part of the exhibition’s immediacy and shared presence. reinforcing the curatorial intention of collective engagement rather than isolated viewing.

For the opening, after the performance, curator Jenny Lin and assistant curator Stephanie Leung introduced an artist panel discussion. 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 returned repeatedly to practical creative life: artistic process, visibility, and the challenges of sustaining creative practice within contemporary cultural structures—alongside the importance of collective infrastructure for independent artists.

In the rooms, several works drew sustained attention, but the exhibition’s logic refuses to make any single piece stand above the rest.

Claire Moss’s Donkeyskin (2025) 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.

Helen Carr’s Nige (2025) was also widely discussed. The mixed-media sculptural work is constructed from papier mâché, acrylic paint, foam, fabric, and wire, referencing 18th-century Lambeth Delftware. Its motif of bed bugs functions 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 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.

Set alongside these are curatorial choices that keep contradiction in view. Being-in-the-World is structured around coexistence rather than resolution: it doesn’t impose a singular reading, and it allows contradiction, overlap, and divergence to remain visible within a shared space.

The exhibition’s promise isn’t just aesthetic; it’s social. Collective Voices Exhibition 2nd Edition: Being-in-the-World presents artist-led collective exhibitions as cultural and social infrastructure. With its international scope. multidisciplinary practices. and emphasis on dialogue. the show reads less like a finished statement and more like a temporary ecosystem of shared artistic presence and exchange.

Safehouse 1, Peckham is where it happens: the exhibition runs from 22–25 May 2026.

The exhibition team includes curator Jenny Ping Lam Lin and assistant curator Stephanie Leung. Graphic design is by Jia Xi Zhou. Volunteers are Zhe Li, Carmen Yu, and Zhaojia Zhang.

Opening performance credits list Cathy Tsang (Flute) performing BÄCK: Sonata for Solo Flute. 1st Movement and Wil Offermans: Honami for Solo Flute. Panel speakers are 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.

Collective Voices Being-in-the-World Safehouse 1 Peckham Jenny Ping Lam Lin Stephanie Leung artist-led exhibition identity visibility queer art contemporary lived experience international artists London independent art scene