About us

imagine art after is a project in multiple stages that puts the creative process at the heart to tell stories that official narratives and histories are unable to tell.

The project starts with an interactive online dialogue between artists and filmmakers who left their home countries and now live in the UK, with those who stayed. Twenty artists and filmmakers were selected based on an open call in 35 countries from where according to UK Home Office data the most asylum applications are made.

The dialogues form the basis by which the audience get to know the artists’ characters, look at their creative process, and see how they relate to their immediate landscape.

Following the dialogues, the artists and filmmakers openly develop ideas for new work, triggered by issues arising through the project. imagine art after moves on to commission, produce, and exhibit several new art and film works. The production process will be filmed and broadcast. The audience can comment and engage along the way.

imagine art after is produced by Ordinary Lovers, a non-profit company limited by guarantee directed by lead curator & creative producer Breda Beban. The curatorial team further consists of curator Eline van der Vlist.

imagine art after expands on its 2005-08 edition. Following dialogues on Guardian Unlimited in 2005, imagine art after's first exhibition took place at Tate Britain in 2007/08.

Judith Nesbitt, Chief Curator, Tate Britain (November 2009):

"Art in Britain has for centuries been deeply influenced by the presence of immigrant artists. Today, more than ever before, the UK population reflects global patterns of migration, and this is evident in the art being made and shown here. imagine art after, initiated by the Serbian-born artist Breda Beban, who lives in London, is an imaginative project which unpacks the experience of making art (and making a life) in the UK, in a number of dialogues with artists living in other countries. Tate Britain is following the project."