Venues

The 198 Gallery seeks to enhance the cultural perceptions of the wider community through the comprehension and appreciation of culturally diverse visual art. It aims to provide a platform for a new and fresh visual art language that represents the cultural diversity of British society and give the opportunity for an analysis and appreciation of this work through interpretation and education.

The 198 Gallery was established in 1988, after the Brixton riots, to support the work of black artists by meeting their needs for exhibition space.

The 198 Gallery is now a venue for artists from diverse cultural backgrounds and has gained a profile for innovative issues-based exhibitions and critically acclaimed work in the field of multicultural art education.

Whether it is interpretation, interaction or integration, art education has a key role to play at the center of urban regeneration in a multicultural society. The 198 Gallery Education Policy is to provide a local resource to the community, and to schools and colleges in the delivery of the National Curriculum. Our core aim is to provide knowledge and experience in the contemporary arts from diverse cultural backgrounds and relate it to new technologies and forms of cultural expression.

Central to our work with schools and colleges is the 198 Gallery’s ‘Education through Exhibitions’ programme which is based on residences and exhibitions by contemporary visual artists from diverse cultural backgrounds. These projects consist of a series of four gallery and school based artist led workshops that integrate the Attainment Targets in Art and enable participants to make their own work informed by the work of practising artists.

The work produced by participants in the programme is exhibited at the 198 Gallery during the annual Schools Exhibition. All projects are supported by information packs for use by Teachers’ in schools or colleges. The 198 Gallery has an extensive archive of information packs, slides and videos from past exhibitions available as a resource to teachers.