Contemporary up for Award?
NICK PELLING
Something extraordinary has happened. Hastings Old Town has reached the last six of a European competition. To be more precise, Hastings Contemporary is the only UK gallery selected as a finalist in the competition to win the prestigious European Art Museum award for 2026.
The Contemporary finds itself in illustrious and daunting company. For example, one of the other five finalists is the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which is actually the National Museum of the Netherlands and has a range of works that covers 800 years of Dutch history. The idea of the Contemporary up against the Rijksmuseum in a competition has the feel of a diminutive David up against an art-gorging Goliath. And there are four more finalists, all of which are quite big hitters.
A UNIQUE ANGLE
Amongst the criteria for selection is how the museums or galleries find “innovative ways to engage with issues facing society today”. All of which sounds like the panel of judges will be looking to see if the institutions offer some sort of ‘relevance.’ The Contemporary has arguably seen that its very position perched on the sea amid a working fishing community gives it a unique angle on the world. After all, the sea is always both local and global: a fun spot and a vast atmospheric engine. Consequently, recent and forthcoming exhibitions have been soaked in sea themes.
The Director of the gallery, Kathleen Soriano, and her team, have pushed hard for this, hoping to bring artists, scientists and fishermen together to explore the sea in all its myriad complexity. The recent Meet the Fleet programme (showing until 13 September) is undoubtedly an innovative move in trying to engage with the local fishing community.
On top of this, the Contemporary tries in many ways to reach out to the people of Hastings and surrounding areas by offering family days, drawing classes for carers and those they care for and the Pearls of the Sea outreach project which works closely with local schools. Also, the Coquina café upstairs, with its delightful view, is now free to access for all. And there’s so much more that there isn’t the space to mention here.
Whether all of this will enable an act of cultural giant-killing, we shall have to wait until late September to find out.
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