Catalogue 9.0: A Chorus of Strangers is out now

Cork Street Galleries, an initiative from the Pollen Estate is pleased to announce CATALOGUE 9.0: A Chorus of Strangers, guest edited by Ekow Eshun.

Published by Cork Street Galleries, the journal for contemporary art sees curator, writer, and broadcaster Eshun elaborate on his curation of the tenth edition of the British Art Show to embrace Cork Street, famous as the spiritual home of modern and contemporary art in Britain. The magazine is conceived as a companion in sequel to the exhibition which tours cities across the UK until summer 2028.

“This issue of CATALOGUE explores a simple but intractable question: how does it feel to live in Britain today?,” says Eshun, who has been declared a ‘cultural polymath’ by The Guardian. “There’s no straightforward answer to that question, of course. But through the images and essays and poems assembled here by a panoply of extraordinary artists and writers, we might guess at something of the tone or texture of our times, alternately unsettled and melancholy, wistful and introspective.”

Sharing the (sub)title A Chorus of Strangers, “the name is inspired by a powerful scene known as ‘The Strangers’ Case’, from the 1604 biographical drama Sir Thomas More,” he continues. “The play was written collaboratively by several authors. The most prominent among them was William Shakespeare who dramatised a real-life event when More, then the Sheriff of London, faced off against a violent mob at the height of an anti-immigrant riot in London, 1517. In Shakespeare’s telling, More calms the crowd by making ‘the Strangers’ Case’, an impassioned call for empathy in place of the ‘mountainish inhumanity’ of bigotry and divisiveness. The argument of ‘The Strangers’ Case’ still feels powerfully relevant today.

“Perhaps art cannot tell us exactly what it feels like to live in Britain today. But it can give shape to the contradictions, anxieties and possibilities of the present. And, in doing so, offer us new ways of seeing one another. This issue is an attempt to listen to that chorus: to the many voices, visions and experiences that make up Britain now.”

A stellar line-up of artists contribute visual work to the magazine: Alex Margo Arden, Anna Freeman Bentley, Christina Kimeze, Emma McNally, Emma Talbot, France-Lise McGurn, Graham Little, Hannah Perry, Jack O’Brien, Jasleen Kaur, Joy Gerrard, Julianknxx, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, Lindsey Mendick, Liz Johnson Artur, Louise Giovanelli, Lubna Chowdhary, Lucy Jones, Mahtab Huassain, Matthew Krishanu, Melanie Manchot, Mohammed Sami, Monster Chetwynd, Nengi Omuku, Okiki Akinfe, Osman Yousefzada, Peter Blake, Rae-Yen Song 宋 瑞 渊, Shiraz Bayjoo, Ufuoma Essi, Yan Wang Preston, and Yinka Shonibare.

An exceptional collection of writing comes from Afua Hirsch, Charlotte Jansen, Emma Warren, and Sam Jacob. With poetry by Roger Robinson, and Raymond Antrobus.

Says Jacob in the magazine’s most strobing moment of hyper-reality: “There are, in theory, 1,745,016 possible Tesco Meal Deals”.

Available in print and as a digital download optimised for screens, this magazine underscores a great belief that although Mayfair has been terra firma for over 100 years, Cork Street’s ethos can venture beyond W1 – as seen through our collaboration with the British Council as a Supporting Partner of The British Pavilion at the 61st edition of La Biennale di Venezia.

Download CATALOGUE 9.0 to enjoy as part of your screen time, and pick up a physical copy, while stocks last, on your next visit to Cork Street.