SOKARI DOUGLAS CAMP: FASHION & FORTUNE 21 May - 27 June 2026

DREAM NO SMALL DREAM: The Story of October GalleryAvailable from our Book Store. £40 + P&P304 pages, full colour plates throughout. Edited by Gerard Houghton.

FORTHCOMING EXHIBITIONS

SOKARI DOUGLAS CAMP: Fashion & Fortune

21st May - 27th June 2026

**Sokari Douglas Camp**, *Copper Palm Tree*, 1991. Mild steel, copper, 330 x 122 x 126 cm. with *Calico Red Skirt*, 2026 and *Calico Green Skirt*, 2026.

**Sokari Douglas Camp**, *Alapu Awome: Chief’s Children*, 2026.
Mild steel, acrylic paint, gold leaf, 81.5 x 55.5 x 35 cm.

This May, internationally renowned artist and sculptor, Sokari Douglas Camp CBE opens a new solo exhibition of strikingly sculptures at October Gallery. Titled Fashion and Fortune, the artist brings together large and smaller scale steel sculptures alongside selected prints. Douglas Camp, as in previous exhibitions, mines the historical records of earlier visual artists to examine power, commerce and colonialism within a broad Caribbean and, by extension, African context.

Drawing inspiration from Robert S. DuPlessis’ book The Material Atlantic, Douglas Camp explores clothing, commerce and emblems of wealth as reflected in fashion and dress. Through intricate metal figures, elaborate headdresses, and the incorporation of coins, the artist highlights both the oppression embedded in colonial systems and the creativity with which marginalized people reasserted identity and status. Furthermore, by delving into her own Nigerian family’s complex dress code, Douglas Camp deftly plays upon imbuing fabrics and modes of dress with new meanings. With these exhilarating new works presenting an impressive selection of motifs including dazzling displays of flowers and fruit, including a lively depiction of the tropical pineapple, she observes how people of diverse ethnicities, social positions and occupations impacted the emergence of a distinctive sartorial culture across the Atlantic world.

These latest sculptures tease out the complex intertwining histories of trade, colonialism and lineage, while simultaneously celebrating the resilience of the people of Africa and the African diaspora throughout the globe.

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Xanthe Somers and Yacout Hamdouch: Poetic Threads
Spotlight: James Barnor

2nd July - 15th August 2026

**Xanthe Somers**, *Never an end to holding*, 2026.
Glazed stoneware, 110 x 60 x 60 cm.

**Yacout Hamdouch**, *Fertile Rainbow I*, 2026.
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 110 cm.

In July, October Gallery continues its season of Contemporary African Art with an exhibition that pairs stimulating new works by Zimbabwean ceramicist, Xanthe Somers, with colourful paintings by Moroccan artist Yacout Hamdouch, who is exhibiting at the gallery for the first time. In our second gallery space, a Spotlight on selected photographic works by internationally renowned photographer, James Barnor, complements this vital and energetic exhibition.

Xanthe Somers presents Carer, Cleaner, Mother, Maker, a series exploring women’s labour, colonial histories and eco-racist practices in the Global South. Combining pottery, basketry and textiles, Somers develops a distinctive visual language inspired by Zimbabwean weaving traditions. Her hand-coiled ceramic forms are punctured, distorted and painted, referencing grass basketry, blankets and domestic textiles associated with care and labour. Through these works, she highlights the often-overlooked stories carried within women’s craft traditions while using weaving as a metaphor for social cohesion and its fragility.

Yacout Hamdouch exhibits works from her series Poetic Landscapes and Fertile Rainbows, exploring memory, emotion and human connection through layered compositions of colour and form. Organic shapes subtly referencing the female body move between abstraction and landscape, evoking fleeting experiences and emotional states.

The exhibition is further enriched by photographs by James Barnor, whose six-decade career documented newly independent Ghana and 1960s London. His celebrated images capture African identity, culture and diaspora histories, and continue to inspire generations of photographers today.

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NEWS, EVENTS & RECOMMENDATIONS

Gallery Talk: Sokari Douglas Camp in conversation with Melanie Vandenbrouck

Saturday, 6th June
3 pm – 4.30 pm
Entry Free (booking essential)

Join artist Sokari Douglas Camp CBE for a discussion about her new solo exhibition Fashion & Fortune with Dr. Melanie Vandenbrouck, Chief Curator at Pallant House Gallery.

The conversation explores Douglas Camp’s working processes and creation of the artist’s new sculptures, while unpacking her daily approach to her work within her studio.

Book tickets

A Celebration of Tennessee Williams —Two one-act plays performed by Studio 8 Ensemble

29th May & 30th May, 2026
7 pm – 8 pm (doors open 6 pm)
October Gallery, Theatre (2nd floor)*
Tickets: £8 + booking fee

The Case of the Crushed Petunias is a “lyrical fantasy” written in 1941, focuses on Dorothy Simple, a woman whose restricted, orderly life in Massachusetts is disrupted when her petunias are destroyed, sparking a thematic exploration of routine, rebellion, and embracing a more vibrant life.

The Municipal Abattoir is a rare, politically charged one-act play written primarily in the late 1960s, exploring themes of totalitarianism and the loss of individual free will.

Refreshments available from 6 pm and after the performance.

*Please note there is no disabled access to the Theatre.

Book tickets

LR Vandy: Rise

14th March – 13th September, 2026 Yorkshire Sculpture Park,
The Weston Gallery

Rise is the first solo museum exhibition by LR Vandy, created for The Weston Gallery at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Working with rope and found materials, Vandy explores power dynamics, cultural traditions and the legacies of international trade through large-scale, materially resonant installations.

Image: LR Vandy in front of Dancing in Time: The Ties That Bind Us, 2023.

Photo by Peter Carr.

Sokari Douglas Camp and LR Vandy in The Music is Black: A British Story

Open now
V&A East, London

Spanning 125 years of Black music-making in Britain, The Music is Black: A British Story explores how Black British music has profoundly shaped the nation’s cultural landscape. Bringing together stories from across four continents and 12 decades, the exhibition traces narratives of creativity, resilience and innovation.

Included in the exhibition are works by Sokari Douglas Camp CBE and LR Vandy, whose practices engage with histories of heritage, dance and cultural expression.

Support Us

For nearly fifty years, October Gallery Trust has nurtured and promoted extraordinary artists from a multitude of cultures, decades before it became common practice. It has historically been valued as a nexus of artistic, intellectual and ecological collaboration, aligned to a prolific cross-cultural educational programme.

Your support will help us continue offering individuals and communities a welcoming, globally minded oasis. Help preserve our historic Bloomsbury Gallery as a sanctuary for creativity, ecology and education.

Make a Donation

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VISIT OCTOBER GALLERY

Bloomsbury, London

October Gallery has been instrumental in bringing to worldwide attention many of the world’s leading international artists, including El Anatsui, Rachid Koraïchi, Romuald Hazoumè, Nnenna Okore, Laila Shawa and Kenji Yoshida. The Gallery promotes the Transvangarde, the very best in contemporary art from around the planet, as well as maintaining a cultural hub in central London for poets, writers, intellectuals and artists, and hosts talks, performances and seminars, see www.octobergallery.co.uk/events

The rich diversity of art presented is an inspiration to collectors and enthusiasts. Institutions such as the British Museum, London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany; Neue Galerie, Kassel, Germany; Setagagya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan have all collected works from October Gallery.

Founded in 1979, October Gallery is a charitable trust which is supported by sales of art, rental of the Gallery's unique facilities, grants from various funding bodies and the active support of dedicated artists, musicians, writers and many friends from around the world. The Gallery’s Education Department is inclusive of all ages from under 5’s to PGCE student and delivers a wide range of provision, see www.octobergalleryeducation.com

October Gallery is open from 12:30 to 17:30 pm, Tuesday to Saturday.
The Gallery is closed during official holidays and the entire month of August.

October Gallery Cafe is open from 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm, Tuesday to Friday.

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ACCESSIBILITY

There are two steps at the main entrance, each has a rise of 160mm and a 310mm tread (no handrail). The main entrance push door is 750mm wide.
Assisted or ramp access at the Gallery’s main entrance is available upon request.

Chairs can be found in the Gallery space.
The refectory is fully accessible by wheelchair.
Access to the courtyard has a 100mm ramp down coming from the corridor door.
There is also an accessible toilet in the Courtyard.

October Gallery is a Grade II listed building and therefore has no lift access to rooms above the ground floor. This includes the Theatre, the Clubroom and the first floor.

We welcome all visitors and will do our best to accommodate specific needs. Please do let us know in advance if there is anything in particular, we can help with. Call + 44 (0)20 7242 7367 or email gallery@octobergallery.co.uk preferably a day in advance.

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