Remember Respond Resist

Born from collaborative dialogue with curators at the Centre for Contemporary Art Łaźnia (CCA Łaźnia) in Gdańsk, Remember Respond Resist features:

● A showcase of work by 21 internationally acclaimed artists from the British Council collection, including Henry Moore, Hew Locke, Simon Norfolk, Lubaina Himid, David Shrigley and Andrzej Jackowski. The works on display include sculpture, textiles, taxidermy, painting, drawing and collage and are organised around the programme's three core themes. Remember explores memory and conflict. Respond examines our reactions to threats both as a wider society and as individuals, while the works in Resist explore opposition to challenging present-day realities through forms of protest.

● Work by two major artists who provide an insight into the social and political worlds of the UK and Poland. Grayson Perry's The Vanity of Small Differences - a series of six acclaimed tapestries created in 2012 that explore British fascination with taste and class through the fictional life story of a character named Tim Rakewell. A series of ten pieces by Goshka Macuga, a Polish-born artist who has lived and worked in the UK since 1989. Created between 2011 and 2021, they explores ideas of resistance and censorship, highlighting Poland's difficult transformation following the fall of communism in 1989, and the impact of targeted attacks against those who resisted the new government.

● A presentation drawn from the archives at The Box that examines the historical and cultural ties between Plymouth and the Polish community. Following Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland, many Polish troops fought for the allies with large numbers stationed around Plymouth during World War II. Many Polish servicemen subsequently settled in the city. The connection between the two countries deepened further in 1976 when Plymouth and Gdynia were twinned.

List of artists

The 22 artists that feature in Remember Respond Resist are:
Kenneth Armitage | Fiona Banner
Phyllida Barlow | Angus Boulton
Bill Brandt | Suki Dhanda
Ian Hamilton Finlay | Mona Hatoum
Lubaina Himid | Andrzej Jackowski
Hew Locke | Goskha Macuga
Jenny Matthews | Bruce McLean
Bernard Meadows | Henry Moore
Simon Norfolk | Grayson Perry
Colin Self | David Shrigley
David Thorpe | Bill Woodrow

Find out more

● Learn more about the UK/Poland Season 2025
● Listen to Grayson Perry introduce the tapestries in The Vanity of Small Differences
● Listen to Goshka Macuga discuss her practice in a 2018 video produced for the TateShots series
● Meet artist Lubaina Himid
● Listen to artist Hew Locke explain why he thinks art is important in a fractious world

Image credits

Goshka Macuga, Make Tofu Not War, 2018. Courtesy of the artist and Kate MacGarry, London © British Council Collection

Lubaina Himid, Have Courage in the Crisis Set Yourself Free, 2018. Courtesy of the artist and Hollybush Gardens, London © Lubaina Himid and British Council Collection

Grayson Perry, The Upper Class at Bay, 2012. Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro © Grayson Perry