So Original.
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What happens when our ideas are not as radical as we hoped?
〰️ What happens when our ideas are not as radical as we hoped?
Thu 9 April - Sun 12 April
11am-5pm
Private View: Wednesday 8th April, 6-9pm
So Original begins with a familiar art-school anxiety: what happens when our ideas are not as radical as we hoped? Contemporary art frequently returns to recurring themes — identity, memory, trauma, politics, love and everyday life — forming a shared conceptual vocabulary across diverse practices. Rather than attempting to resolve this condition, the exhibition examines how originality is shaped through interpretation. Visitors encounter the works through an accompanying audio tour, which traces a continuous narrative across the exhibition, linking each artwork within a single unfolding storyline. As the narrative progresses, it reveals how easily distinct works can be drawn into a shared structure of meaning. Connections emerge not as inherent qualities of the artworks themselves, but as products of framing — of the language and narratives through which they are encountered. In doing so, So Original considers repetition not as a failure of originality, but as a condition produced through the systems that organise and interpret contemporary art.
Accompanied by performance events and a publication featuring a commissioned critical response, the exhibition brings together play and critique, treating interpretation itself as both a method and a subject of inquiry.
All Welcome
Artists: Chi Ching Yum, Ekatarina Veiman, Kevin Syz, Seoyun Hong, Shiying Luo, Sugi Ryu, Tan Xuan Ying, Valentina Mao, Wanyu Cui, Xuanru Zhao, Yen Eom, Yidan Meng, Yoyo Zhang, Yuchen Yan, Yumeng Kuai, Yunseo Pak, Ziying Wei
Curatorial Team: Chi Ching Yum, Shiying Luo, Tan Xuan Ying, Wanyu Cui, Xuanru Zhao, Yumeng Kuai
Critical response by: Steve Yee (MA Contemporary Art Theory)
Cocktails curated by: Xinge Yu
Access information: Accessible, non-gender toilets, step-free access, wheelchair accessible, guide – dog friendly (applies to ground floor of main building and Arts Network building only)
Ages: All Ages
Parking: There is no parking onsite, accessible parking can be arranged in advance. Free parking on street (weekends and evenings only)
Where: Art Hub Studios, Stanley Street, SE8 4BL
Public Transport: New Cross Station (5 mins), Deptford Station (10 mins). Bus Stop ( 2 mins)
Cycling: Racks on site
Enquiries: Tan Xuan Ying - xuanying1000@gmail.com / info@arthub.org.uk
Socials: @ArtHubLondon / @art.by.ying