Launch: IT'S NOT CLEAR FROM HERE - New Curating 2026

NEW CURATING 2026: IT'S NOT CLEAR FROM HERE  AT CCA DERRY-LONDONDERRY LAUNCHES ON 17 JANUARY 2026, 7–9PM. 

The exhibition runs until 14 March 2026

CCA Derry~Londonderry in collaboration with Northern Ireland Screen's Digital Film Archive are pleased to present

IT’S NOT CLEAR FROM HERE, a group exhibition curated by Ashleigh Wilson, opening as part of New Curating 2026. 

The exhibition runs from 17 January–14 March 2026 and features work by Thomas Hunter, Sabi Nicholson and Lucy Tevlin.

IT’S NOT CLEAR FROM HERE draws on archival material and lens-based media to explore how images are shaped by time, technology and the act of looking. The exhibition considers the gallery as a space where narratives shift and meaning is continually re-formed. Archives are unearthed and disrupted, environments seep into the gallery space, and obsolete technologies are reanimated. Across photography and film, the works reflect on technological change, environmental crisis and questions of belonging, presenting images as unstable, partial and often elusive.

Thomas Hunter presents a two-screen installation combining personal footage with archival news material from the North of Ireland. Growing up in Belgium, Hunter encountered Ireland through family trips and mediated images of conflict. Tourist imagery of rural landscapes are interrupted by newsreel footage from the later years of the Troubles, while live audience movement within the gallery actively distorts the work in real time, implicating viewers in the construction of memory and place.

Sabi Nicholson’s installation responds to the ecological crisis at Lough Neagh. Drawing on archival fishing documentaries, Nicholson projects warped imagery through contaminated lough water, alongside lumen prints made using local flora. Sound, water and image spill into the gallery, reflecting on environmental degradation and the lough as a haunted and unstable landscape.

Lucy Tevlin presents unopened rolls of shot and developed 8mm film sourced online, their contents unknown to both artist and viewer. Accompanied by speculative texts and projections, the work shifts attention away from the image itself and towards the fragile technologies and structures that produce it, questioning how images are made, withheld and imagined.

Curated by Ashleigh Wilson — an artist, researcher and cultural producer based in Belfast — IT’S NOT CLEAR FROM HERE reflects on the precarious status of images in a supposedly post-conflict Northern Ireland, where histories remain unresolved and narratives continue to shift.

Artworks by Sabi Nicholson and Thomas Hunter include archival material from Northern Ireland Screens Digital Film Archive.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a programme of public events.

ENDS

Centre for Contemporary Art Derry~Londonderry

10–12 Artillery Street, Derry~Londonderry, BT48 6RG, Northern Ireland

+44(0)2871 373538 | ccadld.org | info@ccadld.org

Opening times: Tuesday–Saturday noon–6pm. Free admission

About CCA Derry~Londonderry:
The Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) is a publicly funded space within the historic city walls of Derry~Londonderry. CCA creates opportunities for audiences to experience ambitious, experimental and engaging art and for emerging artists to develop successful careers. CCA fosters a wide range of artistic, curatorial and critical practices through five programme streams: research and production, exhibition- making, public programmes, publishing and residencies.

CCA was a Finalist in Art Fund Museum of the Year 2021, the largest museum prize in the world. CCA was recognised for its resilience and adaptability throughout the pandemic, and their continued effort to support audiences and artists including creating paid opportunities for artists and freelancers when they needed it most.

CCA is a member of Plus Tate: Plus Tate is a network, which comprises 35 cultural institutions – including the Tate galleries – that have strong artistic vision, a focus on contemporary art, outstanding public programming and a commitment to local community engagement through art. Plus Tate aims to support the development of the visual arts across the UK.

About Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive:
The Digital Film Archive (DFA) is a flagship Northern Ireland Screen resource, created to ensure broad access to the region’s rich moving image heritage. Spanning over a century, from 1897 to the present day, the DFA (www.digitalfilmarchive.net) is an online treasure trove that chronicles Northern Ireland’s cultural, social, and historical journey. It also features material documenting pre-Partition Ireland, offering valuable insights for audiences across the UK and Ireland, and internationally. With over 6,000 hours of material, the DFA encompasses a wide range of genres, formats, and themes. From rare silent films to contemporary documentaries, from newsreels to home movies, the archive provides a window into some of the lives, stories, and events that have shaped Northern Ireland.

For media enquiries:
Vanessa Marsh, Marketing Coordinator for CCA Derry~Londonderry 10-12 Artillery Street, Derry~Londonderry, BT48 6RG, Northern Ireland
vanessa@ccadld.org | +44(0)2871 373538 | @CCADLD

New Curating 2026 is supported by: