Monthly Happenings | September

September brings a sense of fresh beginnings, where the lingering warmth of summer meets the first signs of autumn. Set the tone for the season with five inspiring events, from an exhibition showcasing traditional Japanese printmaking to a joyful discussion of allotment life.

Nana Shiomi: Her Own Interpretation at Pallant House Gallery

Nana Shiomi’s new exhibition at Pallant House Gallery showcases a fusion of traditional Japanese woodblock printmaking, known as ukiyo-e, with European artistic influences. Nana, who studied oil painting and printmaking at Tama Art University in Tokyo before moving to London to attend the Royal College of Art in 1991, masterfully combines relief and intaglio methods. Her prints depict cultural objects representing everyday life in Japan, such as ceramics and flowers, set against a symbolic stage, or Garan-do. This reflective space serves as a backdrop for her creative explorations.

Nana Shiomi: Her Own Interpretation is on at Pallant House Gallery until 13 October.

Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum: It Will End in Tears at the Barbican

Botswanan-Canadian artist Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum is set to open her first solo exhibition at a major UK institution with It Will End in Tears at the Barbican. Occupying the art centre’s unique cornerless gallery, The Curve, the show will delve into themes of home, hybrid identities, and wholeness through a collection of drawings, paintings, and installations. The influence of film noir permeates the works, which collectively weave a narrative as visitors move through the gallery, encountering scenes portraying domesticity, rural landscapes, and colonial history.

Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum: It Will End in Tears is on at the Barbican from 18 September.

Long Table Feast at Fodder + Farm

Located on the edge of the Trossachs National Park, Gartur Stitch Farm is an education-led smallholding born out of owner Kat Goldin’s passion for craft and food. Its rustic event space, Fodder + Farm, co-owned by chef Lucy Pattinson, hosts workshops and gatherings focused on regenerative farming and communal dining. The monthly Long Table Feast utilises fresh, seasonal ingredients from Gartur Stitch Farm and surrounding fields and forests, prepared by Lucy who specialises in open-fire cooking. Guests are welcome to a short farm tour to see where the produce has been grown before sitting down to an inventive multi-course meal.

The next Long Table Feast is at Fodder + Farm on 14 September.

Igshaan Adams: Weerhoud at Hepworth Wakefield

Shifting focus from domestic spaces to landscapes and the body, South African artisan Igshaan Adams explores how lived experiences and trauma shape the human psyche, emphasising the transformative power of movement. The multidisciplinary artist has created a new series of tapestries and immersive installations for this exhibition, including his largest installation to date, a cloud-like structure suspended from wire. These pieces are displayed alongside existing sculptures and textile works, presenting a varied yet consistent overview of his oeuvre.

Igshaan Adams: Weerhoud is on at Hepworth Wakefield until 4 November.

This Allotment: Stories of Growing, Eating and Nurturing at Chelsea History Festival

This storytelling event, part of the Chelsea History Festival at Chelsea Physic Garden, celebrates allotment life and its many benefits with talks from twelve speakers: gardeners, food writers, novelists, horticulturalists, and historians. The evening, which will trace the history of communal gardening with personal tales of growing, eating and nurturing, is hosted by editor and publisher Sarah Rigby, who grows an allotment herself and volunteers at an organic food growing co-op, Organic Lea. Other contributors at the event will include chef Olia Hercules and poet JC Niala.

This Allotment: Stories of Growing, Eating and Nurturing is on at Chelsea Physic Garden on 27 September.

Image 1: Nana Shiomi, A Room of One’s Own –Still Life–, 2017, woodcut print, 76 x 108cm, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, Gift of the Artist (2023), © Nana Shiomi RE.

Image 2: Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum: It Will End in Tears, works in progress in Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum's studio, The Hague, Netherlands, 2024, courtesy the artist and Goodman Gallery, photo: Lotte van Uitterst.

Image 3: Long Table Feast at Gartur Stitch Farm, photography by Kirk Norbury.

Image 4: Igshaan Adams installations at Hepworth Wakefield, photography by Mark Blower.

Image 5: Chelsea Physic Garden, photography by Laura Stoner-New.

Words by Bébhinn Campbell.