Ikon, Birmingham’s internationally acclaimed contemporary art gallery, announces its exhibition and education programmes for 2025.

In spring 2025, Ikon presents solo exhibitions by artists Mahtab Hussain and Htein Lin. The former focuses on Birmingham’s Muslim communities, documenting diversity and addressing surveillance culture; the latter manifests individual and artistic freedom against a backdrop of political repression.

In the Summer, the gallery exhibits the vibrant and colourful work of Korean artist Seulgi Lee, alongside Thread the Loom, a show dedicated to weaving, organised in partnership with the Textile Design department at Birmingham City University. The Autumn/Winter programme features the first major survey of Guyanese artist Donald Locke, organised in collaboration with Spike Island, Bristol and Camden Art Centre, London.

Ikon’s BCU Tuesdays partnership with Birmingham City University enables the gallery to open to the public every Tuesday for a year, 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 renewed 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 programme sees the development of artistic practice within dedicated studio spaces at HMP Grendon, supported by the Marie-Louise von MotesiczkyCharitable Trust for another three years (2024-2026), and HMP Spring Hill, funded by the Rothschild Foundation (2025).

For more information, visit: ikon-gallery.org