07/31/2026
Join us next Tuesday at the Orange Lodge in Joe Batt’s Arm at 5 pm for a talk by curator Polly Staple. She will speak about her curatorial thinking, focusing on a recent exhibition, 5 Works, featuring artist Lydia Ourahmane, presented at the Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation in Venice. This quietly stunning exhibition has been the subject of much critical attention due to its deep engagement with the city of Venice.
Staple is an independent curator based in London. She previously held roles as Director of Collection, British Art at Tate; Director of Chisenhale Gallery; Director of Frieze Projects and Editor at Large of frieze magazine.
Since 2000, Staple has played a significant role in shaping contemporary art discourse, championing emerging artists and contributing to the development of major art collections. She often collaborates closely with artists to realise new commissions, exhibitions and publications to expand the definition of what contemporary art can be.
Staple is renowned for her award-winning program at Chisenhale Gallery and significant projects with artists such as Ed Atkins, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Helen Marten, Janice Kerbel, Camille Henrot, Ima-Abasi Okon, P. Staff, Mark Leckey and Hito Steyerl. The commissions she produced by Maria Eichhorn, Ed Atkins and Banu Cennetoğlu were recently recognised by ARTnews and frieze as three of the ‘Best Works of the 21st Century’.
Staple is the curator of monographic exhibitions by Lydia Ourahmane at the Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation, Venice and Camille Henrot at The Perimeter, London which both opened in 2026.
📸 Mark Blower
