A homage to John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, this exhibition is a meditation on slow looking and the mechanisms of human perception. Produced during Hands-on’s residency programme – now in its 3rd edition – it features the works of Laetitzia Campbell, Becca Ellis, Haoua Habré, Fatemeh Heidarhosseini, and Lícia Santos, encompassing painting, installation, and embroidery.

Like the opening lines of Berger’s seminal text – ‘Seeing comes before words’ – perception provides a rational framework for us to view the world and our experiences within it. Filtered through the rose-tinted glasses of our upbringing, accumulated knowledge, and society’s nurtured biases, it rarely offers a truthful account of events. Instead, we are left with an aesthetic experience that is personal and nuanced, where meaning is derived from our own creative thoughts, emotions, and associations. Yet, at times, the collective observations of a community can bring that experience in line with relational art.

In this exhibition, perception is understood as a multifaceted experience, one that can trigger questions and inquiry, or protect us from the harsh truths of human existence. In doing so, we are all invited to embark on an introspective journey through sites of memory, cultural phenomena, and relational aesthetics.

Look. Breathe. Look again.

To be continued by the perceiver…

Text by Nigel Ip