Primary

You are invited to our கோலம்/ Kolam exhibition Preview!

Join us on our free exhibition preview on 8 November, 6-9 PM.

Participating artists: Hairunisha ( ), Osheen Siva ( .siva ), Palani Kumar ( ) & Rocky Mol Selvaraj ( )

The preview will also hold community artworks by children and members of Nottingham Tamil community, supported by Nottingham Tamil Kuzhumam .

Preview will have free chai, snacks and softdrinks.

More on the exhibition:

EXHIBITION: 9 November 2024 - 15 February 2025
OPENING TIMES: Thurs - Sat, 10AM-6PM, or by appointment.
WHERE: Gallery 1, ground floor

Kolam is an exhibition, an action, a space, an exploration. Mimicking its namesake, a south-Indian threshold art-form, the exhibition acts as an invitation to Tamil women, Dalit community and other marginalised communities to hold space and have voice within contemporary cultural production. This liminal space explores the plurality of Tamil identity, the contradictions, the poetics, and the politics. It negotiates what we bring forward through the threshold, what we leave behind. It seeks the right to self-determine.

The exhibition will have newly commissioned animation work by artist Osheen Siva, photographic works by Hairunisha , Palani Kumar, and Palani Studio , an intervention by artist Rocky Mol Selvaraj

The exhibition is a part of practice-led curatorial research by Raghavi Chinnadurai, supported by Primary’s Programme team.

Raghavi’s role as an Associate Curator is funded by Art Fund support.

📸 Photographs in the image by Palani Kumar/ People’s Archive of Rural India. Hairunisha Kasim Moulana, Noor Nisha/ Palani Studio

Primary Open Studios
Saturday 9 November 2024, 10-6pm

20 resident artists, designers and makers at Primary open their studios for one day only.

Maps and further information available on the day from Primary reception.

Georgina Barney, Sayra Begum, Simona Brinkmann, Jim Brouwer, Louisa Chambers, Kashif Nadim Chaudhry, Clay Studio, Sean Cummins, Pete Ellis, Craig Fisher, Michael Forbes, FROMTHEGROUNDUP, Mik Godley, Momoko Gomi, Fiona Harris, Ismail Khokon, Line Nilsen, Yelena Popova, Debra Swann, Marek Tobolewski

Also open in the building the same day: ‘Kolam’ curated by Raghavi Chinnadurai (Gallery 1), Assunta Ruocco ‘Our Days of Gold (Video)’ (TG), Beam and Small Food Bakery.

🎞️📽️Join us for Oneiric Kitchen: Work-in-progress screening at Broadway Cinema delivered in partnership with Near Now.

When: Friday 22 November, 6-7.15pm
Where: Broadway Ceinema, 14-18 Broad Street, Nottingham, NG1 3AL
Booking: Free. Booking in Bio

Oneiric Kitchen is a collaborative project by artist-filmmaker Chiemi Shimada ( ) and wellbeing practitioner Susie Cunningham ( ). The work explores our relationship with sleep and addresses issues surrounding it. Developed through therapeutic cooking workshops in the UK and Japan and facilitated by partners Primary (Nottingham) and Documentary Dream Center (Tokyo) the project created a safe space for participants to reflect on their sleep experiences.  

Oneiric Kitchen is supported by the British Council’s Connections Through Culture grant programme.

📢 Announcing our winter exhibition ‘Kolam’ ( கோலம்) with collaborating artists Hairunisha, Osheen Siva, Palani Kumar & Rocky Mol Selvaraj. Join us for the preview on Friday 8 November, 6-9PM.

PREVIEW: Friday 8 November, 6-9PM
EXHIBITION: 9 November 2024 - 15 February 2025
OPENING TIMES: Thurs - Sat, 10AM-6PM, or by appointment.
WHERE: Gallery 1, ground floor

Kolam is an exhibition, an action, a space, an exploration. Mimicking its namesake, a south-Indian threshold art-form, the exhibition acts as an invitation to Tamil women, Dalit community and other marginalised communities to hold space and have voice within contemporary cultural production. This liminal space explores the plurality of Tamil identity, the contradictions, the poetics, and the politics. It negotiates what we bring forward through the threshold, what we leave behind. It seeks the right to self-determine.

The exhibition will have newly commissioned animation work by artist Osheen Siva ( .siva), photographic works by Hairunisha ( ) , Palani Kumar ( ) from , an intervention by artist Rocky Mol Selvaraj ( )

The exhibition is a part of practice-led curatorial research by Raghavi Chinnadurai, supported by Primary’s Programme team.

Raghavi’s role as an Associate Curator is funded by Art Fund support.

📸 Courtesy & copyright Palani Kumar/ People’s Archive of Rural India (.network )

We were thrilled to support and host artist Madi Acharya-Baskerville ( ) through our Work-in-Common residency during August,2024.

Madi works predominantly with pre-existing materials which have been discarded. For this residency, Madi worked with local waste, particularly packaging. Their work at Primary was situated in Nottingham’s ecology and its legacy around lace. During their first week, Madi visited Sherwood Forest, museum collections of lace, which inspired and informed the materials and the techniques they used.

The artwork Violet streak is a culmination of all this, highlighting the ethos of environmental consciousness through stitching and mending the discarded cardboards.

The residency was a result of New Art Exchange Open 2023 prize ( ) and a part of TRANSFORM, a City Takeover taking place across cultural organisations between May and September 2024.

📸: Image: Madi Acharya-Baskerville Work-in-Common residency, Primary (2024) photo by Jules Lister

📚🎙️🎉Join us for a night of celebration to launch the Courses for Dis-Course(s) publication and podcast, on Saturday 21 September, 6-10pm.

Courses for Dis-Course(s) by Roo Dhissou ( ) took the form of an exhibition and a series of events and dinners hosted by the artist with a group of British South Asian women and non-binary artists.

This celebration event will feature an in-conversation, open mic with participating artists, food, drinks and an exclusive line up of DJs.

📸Course for Dis-Course(s), Roo Dhissou (), Primary (2023). Photos by

We’re excited to announce the launch of our Community Takeover Programme that opens up Primary’s spaces, offering them to other groups for their activities. In the face of escalating cuts to local communities, this programme will share resources – providing groups with access to space and relevant support for community-led initiatives.

We will kick off the programme through collaborations with Open Arms Organisation, Refugee Roots and The Toy Library. Look out for more updates soon!

The Community Takeover Programme has been made possible through the support of the National Lottery Community Fund.








📸 by Rae Dowling

🎨🪴✨🌼 Join us this weekend on Saturday 17 August, 2-5pm for an afternoon of art, games, gardening and food and explore Primary’s outdoor spaces this summer. Get stuck into creative activities, get messy with magic potions and gardening, play games with The Toy Library and enjoy a summer BBQ from Open Arms Organisation There’s lots of space to relax and enjoy Primary’s garden.

We will also be celebrating the launch of our Community Takeover Programme, sharing Primary’ spaces and resources to support activities led by local groups. We will kick off the programme through collaborations with Open Arms Organisation, Refugee Roots and The Toy Library.
This is a free drop-in event. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

The Community Takeover Programme is supported by the National Lottery Community Fund.





📸 1,2 by | 3,4 by .

Last week to visit Imagining Otherwise before the exhibition closes

Drop by this Thurs - Sat, 10AM - 6PM to visit Imagining Otherwise, featuring work by exhibiting artists Ashley Holmes, Jasleen Kaur & Jala Wahid.

Exhibitions should not necessarily be fixed; they have the potential for change. To explore this idea, Primary is engaging in a reflective process of exhibition-making. Imagining Otherwise initially comprised three pre-existing works by artists Ashley Holmes (), Jasleen Kaur (.kaur_), and Jala Wahid (), before it is transformed. Framed by a series of live events (e.g., readings, performance, screenings or discussions) the artists returned to the artworks presented in the exhibition and changed, added works, allowing us to better witness the connections made between the works inhabiting Primary.

Among with other additional works, Gallery 2 ( upstairs) also hosts ‘Naphtha Maqam’ audio installation by artist Jala Wahid. The audio piece will transport listeners across time through the medium of Kurdish maqams and found ephemera.

Imagining Otherwise is part of TRANSFORM, a City Takeover taking place across cultural organisations between May and September 2024.

📸 Imagining Otherwise, Primary (2024). Photos by

As local groups based in Radford / NG7 we have been deeply disturbed by the recent far-right violence and stand together against racism, islamophobia, and anti-migrant violence.

We stand in solidarity with our wonderful local communities, and we are collectively offering safe spaces and community support for anyone affected. Between us this includes community meeting space, peaceful gardens and spaces for rest, shared meals, food parcels, youth groups, people to talk to, and any immediate support needed if you are feeling unsafe eg travel buddies.

We will be working together to share information, link up community networks and offer immediate support - please let us know what you need

Supporting organisations: Please find different times and dates through which these organisations are open to public, could offer safe spaces and please DM if you would like to get in-touch with anyone of them.

1. Himmah, Gamble St., NG7 4EX- Monday- Thursday 10am-4pm

2. Windmill Community gardens, Ascot road, NG8 5HD- Open on Monday 10-1pm, Thursday 10-4pm

3. Breaking Barriers Building Bridges, King St., NG1 2AS- Youth club every Wednesday through summer 4:30-8:30pm, Radford Methodist church, NG7 3DB,
Free football sessions every Friday 6-8pm at the Forest Sports Zone on Gregory Boulevard

4. SFiCE Foundation, Raleigh St., NG7 4DL- Free face to face ESOL classes every Thursday 9:30-10:30 am (online) or 10:30-11:30 am( in-person)

5. Primary, Seely road, NG7 1NU- Free Drop-in gardening session every Friday 11-12:30pm

6. Open Arms- Free food parcels every alternate Fridays at Primary garden, Seely road, NG7 1NU, 11-12:30pm

7. Heya Nottingham- aims to empower women, improve integrity and build a stronger community

🎙️Open studio and In-conversation with artist

Join London based South Asian artist Madi Acharya-Baskerville and South-Indian migrant artist-curator Raghavi Chinnadurai for an enactment of conversation/performance on Thursday 15 August, 6-7pm 🔗 booking link in bio

As an extension of Madi’s process of working with pre-existing objects, materials and Raghavi’s research in decolonial methodologies, Madi will take the voice of their artwork and the conversation will happen between the curator and the artwork, unfolding as a performance.

During August, Madi is in residence at Primary as part of our Work in Common series, that encourages artists to experiment with different ways of working – either testing out a speculative idea or developing new collaborations.

Access: This event will take place in Studio A4 at Primary, which has level access from our main entrance. Please email [email protected] or call 0115 924 4493 regarding access enquiries.

📸 | Rae Dowling

🎨✨🪴Join us on Saturday 17 August, 2-5pm for an afternoon of art, games, gardening and food and explore Primary’s outdoor spaces this summer. Get stuck into creative activities, get messy with magic potions and gardening, play games with The Toy Library and enjoy a summer BBQ from Open Arms Organisation There’s lots of space to relax and enjoy Primary’s garden.

We will also be celebrating the launch of our Community Takeover Programme, sharing Primary’ spaces and resources to support activities led by local groups. We will kick off the programme through collaborations with Open Arms Organisation, Refugee Roots and The Toy Library.
This is a free drop-in event. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

The Community Takeover Programme is supported by the National Lottery Community Fund.





📸 by Rae Dowling. In the photo , taken during Making multi-media sculpture workshop by Madi.

🎙️Join London based South Asian artist Madi Acharya-Baskerville and South-Indian migrant artist-curator Raghavi Chinnadurai for an enactment of conversation/performance on Thursday 15 August, 6-7pm 🔗 booking link in bio

As an extension of Madi’s process of working with pre-existing objects, materials and Raghavi’s research in decolonial methodologies, Madi will take the voice of their artwork and the conversation will happen between the curator and the artwork, unfolding as a performance.

Access: This event will take place in Studio A4 at Primary, which has level access from our main entrance. Please email [email protected] or call 0115 924 4493 regarding access enquiries.

📸Trophy Bird. Mixed Media Sculpture. Found plastic, bone, vintage textiles, found wood, acrylic paint. Photo by Chris Honeywell

📢🔊📖Join us Saturday 27 July for Reading In Chorus by artist Jasleen Kaur .kaur_ 🔗🔗🔗 in bio for booking details!

In the workshop we will group read the text Quantum Listening by Pauline Oliveros through a series of improvised vocal experiments to explore collective voice. The workshop is initiated by a few things: the prompt to ‘listen behind you’ and Saidiya Hartman’s suggestion of the chorus, both as practices that reimagine inherited histories and dominant narratives. No prior engagement with the text or voice is necessary, just an interest in voice and freedom.

🎟 Book at the link in our bio
📆Sat 27 July, 2-3:30pm
📍Primary, 33 Seely Road NG7 1NU

Access: This event will take place in Primary’s garden which has level access from our main entrance. Please email [email protected] or call 0115 924 4493 regarding access enquiries.

Imagining Otherwise is part of TRANSFORM, a City Takeover taking place across cultural organisations between May and September 2024.

Join artist is residence Madi Acharya-Baskerville on Friday 2 August for a free drop-in workshop 11am - 12.30pm.

‘Creating mixed media sculptures inspired by nature’ is a mixed media workshop exploring how everyday packaging can be repurposed to create floral and leaf like mixed media forms. This workshop will take place in Primary’s Garden alongside regular drop-in gardening activity.

Participants will be supported to create small mixed media sculptures in response to the natural world, thinking about plants and flowers in Primary’s garden.

There will be an emphasis on the use of colour and patterns coupled with a focus on the importance of recycling.

Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

| Work In Common is part of TRANSFORM, a City Takeover initiated by taking place across cultural organisations between May and September 2024.

📢🔊📖Join us Saturday 27 July for
Open Deck Listening Session by artist Ashley Holmes 🔗🔗🔗 in bio for booking details!

Through the session, we will explore the relationship between different aural forms and personal association with sound and music. Attendees are invited to bring their own music through either physical vinyls or digital formats.

🎟 Book at the link in our bio
📆Sat 27 July, 4:30-6pm
📍Primary, 33 Seely Road NG7 1NU

Access: This event will take place in Primary’s garden which has level access from our main entrance. Please email [email protected] or call 0115 924 4493 regarding access enquiries.

Imagining Otherwise is part of TRANSFORM, a City Takeover taking place across cultural organisations between May and September 2024.

📸 Peter Martin /

🙏💃🎤🥗A huge thank you to everyone who joined us on Friday for our first Summer Garden Party! The food was delicious, entertainment brilliant and our garden looked beautiful in the early evening sunshine.

An even bigger thank you to the musicians, chefs and artists who contributed to the event including Keith Piper () Little Brickhouse () Caragh Thuring, Benjamin Luhis () Melonyx’s Georgia Copeland () and Charles Bronson.

During the evening guests could pledge their support, helping fund different areas of activity across Primary’s programme, building and outdoor spaces. If you’d like to support primary’s fundraising efforts, please visit the link in our bio, with details on our Friends scheme and one-off donation options.

📸Summer Garden Party (2024), Primary. Photos by

📢🔊📖Join us Saturday 27 July for Imagining Otherwise Live, an afternoon of free events crafted by Imagining Otherwise artists, Ashley Holmes, Jala Wahid & Jasleen Kaur. 🔗🔗🔗 in bio for booking details!

2 - 3.30PM: Reading in Chorus
Booking required kaur_ will explore the use of differing methods of collective voice to connect attendees to each other and themselves.

2 - 6PM: Naphtha Maqam Listening Session
Drop-in
This installation by will transport listeners across time through the medium of Kurdish maqams and found ephemera.

4.30 - 6 PM: Open Deck Listening Session
Booking required
Led by we will explore the relationship between different aural forms and personal association with sound and music. Attendees are invited to bring their own music through either physical vinyls or digital formats.

Events will take place in Primary’s Garden and 1st floor gallery. Visit our event pages for access details.

Imagining Otherwise is part of TRANSFORM, a City Takeover taking place across cultural organisations between May and September 2024.

We are closing the gallery for the day on Friday 19 July to prepare for our Summer Garden Party.

The link is in bio to book tickets on Eventbrite and find details and further information on our website.

We look forward to welcoming visitors back to the space on Saturday 20 July.

Small Food Bakery and Beam will remain open as usual on Friday 19 July.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

It’s now 10 days until our Summer Garden Party and we are selling our last few tickets.

For £35 you can enjoy the Event Ticket with Prosecco on entry, a sharing meal by Little Brickhouse and the in-conversation between Jade Foster and artist Caragh Turing.

For £12.50, with doors opening at 8PM, you can enjoy the Evening Ticket for live jazz and funk performances by Benjamin Luhis with ’s Georgia Copeland and live DJ sets of reggae and soul music.

Some other highlights to look forward to:
- We will be joined by and honouring renowned artist Keith Piper
- Celebrating 10-years of Primary’s Public Programme
- Our exhibition, Imagining Otherwise, will be open between 5.30 - 7PM
- Drinks from the card-only bar

The Eventbrite link to buy your ticket is currently in LinkTree in our bio.

Poster designed by Sian Morrell ()

A year ago Primary re-opened to the public following important changes to the building to make it more welcoming, accessible and sustainable!

We’d like to thank everyone who has dropped by these last 12-months! We’ve had a packed year of programme, welcoming visitors in to enjoy the full scope of what Primary has to offer.

The artists, residents, audiences, staff and trustees who have populated Primary since we opened our studios in 2012 and launched our public programme in 2014 have all been instrumental in supporting and shaping our ongoing development as an artist-led contemporary visual arts organisation.

Check out our ‘What’s On’ page for information on our 2024 summer season, which includes a Family Active Day, Summer Garden Party and weekly Drop-in Gardening Sessions 🪴🎉💃

📸 Primary Re-opening 2023. Photos by Tom Morley ()

Architectural design by .

📢 Primary is looking for a creative to join our resident community. We are specifically looking for an artist interested in the studio space currently available. We will not be reopening our waiting list but will instead locate artists based on the opportunity available and how this aligns with their needs. The available studio is:

* £104 per month
* 3.5 x 3.6M
* Available from 1 August 2024
* Shared with two other creatives
* On the first floor (no step-free access)
* Not appropriate for creatives who create dust (the space is occupied by two painters)
* Located in the blue building, next to the main Victorian former school building

Deadline: Sunday 21 July, 11PM
Response: Friday 26 July, 5PM

Q&A Session: Join us on Friday 12 July, 12.30pm – 1pm if you would like to visit the available studio or have any questions for Primary’s Artist Development Curator.

Please download the application pack from our website (https://www.weareprimary.org/studios) for further details on this opportunity and information on how to apply.

If you would like to request anything in a different format or have any access requirements that you would like to discuss, please contact [email protected].

Background: Primary offers a number of high-quality, affordable studios and workshops. We’re home to artists, makers, and creatives at all stages in their careers, working across all media. Our spaces are secure, with shared facilities, and our resident artists have 24/7 access to the site.

We’re getting closer to Primary’s Summer Garden Party on 19 July! We’ll be receiving pledges of support to help fund different areas of activity across Primary’s programme, building & outdoor spaces!

Pledge 2: Studio A4 Residency Programme   
2 x £5,000   
 
Funding two international art residencies.

One pledge will support a one-month residency at Primary, covering artist fee, studio rent, accommodation in Nottingham, and travel. 

For over a decade, we’ve regularly collaborated on artist residencies with world-renowned organisations in the city, like Nottingham Contemporary, hosting international contemporary artists such as Dora Budor, Rana Hamadeh & Julian Abraham ‘Togar’, who made new work at Primary for his first solo exhibition in a European institution.  

Primary has a strong track record of initiating opportunities for artist development by supporting some of the most innovative, bold & experimental artistic practices today. Ongoing residency programmes such as Work in Common bring brought extraordinary artists to Nottingham, such as Turner Prize 2024 nominee Jasleen Kaur, Libita Clayton, Larry Achiampong, Hardeep Pandhal (2018), Publik Universal Frxnd & Nathalie Anguezomo Mba Bikoro (2019), Mathew Arthur Williams, Nwando Ebizie & Chiemi Shimada (2023).  

“I’ve had the privilege of working with Primary for 3+ years, getting to know the 40+ residents who work from our studios. Studio spaces at Primary are located in what were classrooms & others spaces across the former school building. Beyond providing space for experimentation, learning & production, having access to a studio at Primary means being part of our community, which includes artists, makers, musicians, curators, & creatives at various stages in their careers, working across all media. Residents support, champion & nurture each other with many creatives in the building regularly collaborating on ambitious projects & commissions.” – Colette Griffin, Artist Development Curator, Primary.



Publik Universal Frxnd, photo Reece Straw; Artists Mentoring Curators (2024), photos Tom Morley; Colette Griffin, photo Pete Martin.

Drop by Thurs - Sat, 10AM - 6PM to visit Imagining Otherwise, featuring work by exhibiting artists Ashley Holmes, Jasleen Kaur & Jala Wahid.

Exhibitions should not necessarily be fixed; they have the potential for change. To explore this idea, Primary is engaging in a reflective process of exhibition-making. Imagining Otherwise will initially comprise three pre-existing works by artists Ashley Holmes (), Jasleen Kaur (.kaur_), and Jala Wahid (), before it is transformed. Framed by a series of live events (e.g., readings, performance, screenings or discussions) the artists will return to the artworks presented in the exhibition and withdraw, change or replace them, allowing us to better witness the connections made between the works inhabiting Primary.

Imagining Otherwise is part of TRANSFORM, a City Takeover taking place across cultural organisations between May and September 2024.

📸 Imagining Otherwise, Primary (2024). Photos by

We are buzzing about our first Summer Garden Party with a beautiful seasonal sharing menu from our neighbours using fresh produce from Primary’s Garden! It’s Nottingham’s not-to-be-missed summer bash with live funk and jazz music, DJs, art and talks. 

EVENT TICKET: £35 per head 
A sharing menu served outdoors in our garden, free drink on entry, live entertainment, DJs, art and talks (5:30 pm until 11 pm)

EVENING TICKET: £12.50 per head
Bar, DJs & live music by local legends Benjamin Luhis () in Primary’s Garden (Doors open from 8 pm)

🔗 Link in bio to book, and we are excited to share the menu below:

🧀🫒🍑Menu🧀🫒🍑

* Perello Olives

* Matbukha (translated from Arabic: cooked tomato salad with Prawns or Artichokes [VG])

* Grilled Peaches with Mozzarella & Salted Almonds

* Marinated Carrot sala with Cumin, Garlic & Herbs

* Tabbouleh / Colourful Salad

* Bread & Butter / Dips 

* Anchovy Butter Chicken Thighs with Croutons & Aioli

* Brothy Chickpeas with Calabrian Chili

* Dilly Bean Stew with Cabbage & Frizzled Onions

* Truffles & Strawberries