ESEA Futures 2026
25 September - 7 November
Launch Event: Fri 25 September
6 - 8pm
Free & Open to All
Co-presented by Bloc Projects & Platform Asia
A Key Strand at Bloc Projects, ESEA Futures is a programme foregrounding East and Southeast Asian practices that we co-present with Platform Asia.
Together, we are continually developing this annual programme that centres ESEA diasporas and art. Our hope is to nourish and provide space for ESEA imaginings through exhibitions, events and other learning opportunities.
This year’s edition includes an exhibition, a live performance and a screening:
• Other. Absence & Making Public — artist-researcher Florence To’s first solo exhibition in the UK. With the avian syrinx (the vocal organ through which birds produce sound) as point of departure, the project ties together field observation, recordings and objects gathered from a research trip in Palestine to rethink the broader significance of movement and perception, including: what technical systems can detect and make visible; what they overlook; and how human and more-than-human lives encounter the same environments differently. Launching Fri 25 Sep, 6 - 8pm, free and open to all.
• Live performance of TYRYX — taking place within the Other. Absence and Making Public exhibition. The event is a live sonic activation of the exhibition's wood-and-metal sculptures via synthesised control signals. The sounds draw upon the elements of bird vocalisation. Sat 10 October, 5 - 6pm, part of No Bounds Festival. Tickets available here.
• Screening of All & Nothing — a documentary exploring the intricate life of the late conceptual artist Li Yuan-chia, tracing his journey from wartime China to Taiwan, 1950s Milan and Bologna, and Swinging Sixties London, culminating in the establishment of the L.Y.C. Museum & Gallery in rural Cumbria in 1971. The film captures the essence of Li as both a journeyman and an artist. Tue 3 November, 6pm, part of the Showroom’s Perspectives strand. Tickets available here.
Platform Asia develops opportunities for Asian artists by presenting, discussing and creating works, while promoting Asian artists’ work to audiences. Calling the UK as our home, we connect professionals and audiences who are interested in and new to Asian art and culture via a developing UK-Asia network, and by showing work that inspires and builds appreciation of contemporary Asian art.