Ikon announces 2026 Artistic Programme

Ikon announces its exhibition and education programmes for 2026. Established as an artists-led alternative space in the Bullring in 1964, Ikon remains free for everyone and committed to showcasing the very best of British and international art.

Ikon Gallery’s 2026 exhibition programme celebrates innovation, resilience, and cultural dialogue through three major shows. Break the Mould (25 March – 6 September) concludes Ikon’s craft exhibition trilogy with a focus on ceramics, transforming the gallery into a space for experimentation and public engagement. Running concurrently, Angela de la Cruz: UPRIGHT (25 March – 6 September) presents rarely seen works and a new commission with Birmingham Royal Ballet, exploring the human body and the tension between strength and fragility. Later in the year, Ikon hosts the first major UK survey of Balraj Khanna (30 September – 21 February), tracing five decades of abstract painting shaped by migration, memory, and the natural world. Together, these exhibitions demonstrate Ikon’s ongoing commitment to showcasing diverse practices and fostering conversations that resonate locally and globally.

Left: Jack Ky Tan, A Ceremony for the Unborn Future (2025)
Middle: Angela de la Cruz, Still Life With Table (2000)
Right: Balraj Khanna, New play (1984)

Ikon’s 2026 off-site programme extends its reach locally and internationally through two major projects. At the Library of Birmingham, What are the odds? Ikon Creative Health (21 January – 28 June) explores the role of art in health and care systems. Later in the year, Ikon contributes to the global stage as Melanie Pocock, Artistic Director (Exhibitions), joins the curatorial team for the Bangkok Art Biennale (29 October 2026 – 28 February 2027). Under the theme Angels and Mara, the Biennale brings together artists from Thailand and beyond, including Htein Lin, Mahtab Hussain and Guy Gunaratne who have previously exhibited at Ikon, to reflect on resilience and contradiction in a fractured world.

What are the odds? Ikon Creative Health, graphic (2025). Image courtesy Foka Wolf

Ikon’s BCU Tuesdays partnership with Birmingham City University enables the gallery to open to the public every Tuesday, providing opportunities for outreach with regional secondary schools. This complements programmes of Creative Education, with school, college and university partners, and Creative Health, informing policy development at Birmingham City Council’s Public Health Division. With funding from Freelands Foundation for three years (2024-2027), Ikon Youth Programme (IYP) continues to activate a converted narrowboat, Slow Boat, as an alternative art school. Ikon’s Art in Prisons takes place across three contexts with funding from local authority and charitable trusts.