Our Exhibitions
Here you can explore our current and upcoming exhibitions.
Our exhibitions have been built as a result of our selected and democratic open calls for both Sussex linked, national and international artists.
We look forward to welcoming you to our present and future projects.
Current Exhibitions
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Upcoming Exhibitions
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Current Exhibitions ✳︎ Upcoming Exhibitions ✳︎
INSPIRED BY STANDEN
Standen House & Gardens
2nd July – 30th September 2026
Presented by Sussex Contemporary in Partnership with the National Trust.
This landmark exhibition, Inspired By Standen: The Future of Arts & Crafts, at the historic Standen House, is the result of a recent national open call and marks the start of a beautiful partnership between the National Trust and Sussex Contemporary.
This opportunity is the first open call and exhibition of this size to be created at Standen House, offering artists a chance to exhibit their work alongside original and significant Arts and Crafts artefacts within a historic setting.
Artists have been asked to submit artworks based on the theme Living Standen: A Contemporary Response to the Arts & Crafts Movement. All works are then judged by an expert panel and selected for this exhibition.
All selected works will be available for purchase throughout the three-month summer show.
Paid entry to the house & gardens, exhibition entry included. To see opening hours and ticket prices click here
WE WUNT BE DRUV
Lewes Corn Exchange
5th - 6th September 2026
We Wunt Be Druv is the result of a democratic open call.
The theme centres around one of Sussex's most defiant declarations, a centuries-old motto that speaks of independence, stubborn pride and a refusal to be pushed around.
For this exhibition, Sussex Contemporary invited UK-linked artists to take the spirit of We Wunt Be Druv and run with it, interpreting this deeply Sussex-rooted theme.
The exhibition is part of Artwave 2026, East Sussex's annual open studios and arts festival, held at the historic Lewes Town Hall Corn Exchange for three days and curated by our Creative Director, Jo Myles.
Free entry, 11am-5pm
THE SUSSEX 2026: SHELTER
BN9 Studio, Marine Workshops Newhaven
7th November - 29th November 2026
Our annual selected exhibition for Sussex Contemporary, The Sussex, returns for the 5th year running.
THE SUSSEX 2026 is our annual major showcase of Sussex-linked artists and makers. This selected open call invites artists to explore the powerful theme of SHELTER, calling for creative responses to the spaces we build, seek, and share, whether lasting or fleeting, visible or hidden.
Selected by a leading panel of judges, all works in the exhibition will be available to purchase.
Free entry, open times TBC
PASSAGE
BN9 Studio, Marine Workshops Newhaven
6th - 28th March 2027
Our first exhibition of 2027, PASSAGE, returns to the light-filled BN9 Studio in Newhaven.
PASSAGE is an international, democratic, open-call exhibition inviting artists at any stage of their careers and working in any medium to respond to the theme of passage. Artists are encouraged to interpret the theme in their own way, whether politically, personally or poetically.
Free entry, open Thursday–Saturday 11am–4pm and Sunday 11am–3pm
UNFOLD
Fabrica, Brighton
16th April - 3rd May 2027
A partnership exhibition between Sussex Contemporary and Fabrica, one of Brighton's best-known contemporary art spaces.
Unfold is an open call exhibition inviting artists from across the UK, working in any medium, to respond to the theme of Unfold. Open to both amateur and professional artists with a UK connection, the exhibition will present work selected from the open call by an independent panel of selectors.
Free entry, opening times TBC
The Sussex, 2025
Newhaven, East Sussex
The Art Of Everyday Life