joy: open exhibition
We are delighted to announce that East Quay will be hosting our second Open Exhibition in Watchet, in Autumn 2026. We are inviting artists from Somerset and further afield to submit works which explore and reflect on the theme of ‘Joy’.
An independent panel of judges will select artworks for the exhibition based on the theme, and the works will be on display in Gallery 1 at East Quay from Saturday 19 September 2026 – Sunday 31 January 2027.There will be an opportunity to win a range of prizes worth £1,000 each, including the Audience Favourite Award, as voted for by visitors during the course of the show.
ABOUT EAST QUAY AND CONTAINS ART
East Quay is a multi-disciplinary arts venue in Watchet, Somerset. It is home to contemporary art galleries, artist studios, a paper mill, a print studio, a restaurant, an education space, and accommodation pods. East Quay is a social enterprise that seeks to signal how community-led renewal can empower people, help them to develop agency and rebuild a local economy.
Contains Art CIO runs the cultural programming at East Quay, and is founded on the belief that who you are, what you have and where you are from should not restrict access to the highest quality arts, cultural and creative opportunities and experiences.
Our aim is to share ideas, open minds, invite discussion and encourage a social, economic, and environmental conversation through culture, as well as bringing simple joy, beauty, and wonder into people’s lives. We seek to confound expectations of what visiting a gallery is like in a place like ours.
ABOUT THE THEME – Joy
Joy & wonder is one of our core themes for programming over the coming few years. This call is intentionally not prescriptive, and we welcome your interpretation.
What does joy mean to you? What brings joy? How does it take shape in your body, your practice, your relationships, or your connection to place? Is joy fleeting or sustaining, quiet or defiant, private or collective? Where does joy live in everyday life, and how can it be cultivated, protected, shared, or re-imagined?
How might joy function as an act of resistance in the face of exhaustion, injustice, precarity, or erasure – and what does it mean to choose joy deliberately, as a radical and relational act? How might joy sit alongside grief, uncertainty, or complexity rather than in opposition to them? Is it personal or political, tender or transformative?
We welcome artistic responses that consider how joy is found, interrupted, reclaimed, or made together.