This year, esea contemporary enters its 40th anniversary year. In the Analects, Confucius wrote, ‘At forty, one is free from doubt.’ For an arts organisation, this may be less a moment of certainty than one of growing clarity — about who we are accountable to and why we exist.

From our beginnings as a grassroots Chinese Visual Arts Festival to our role today within the UK and European arts landscape, our work has been shaped by listening, convening and holding space for voices that might otherwise go unheard. Not only amplifying marginalised perspectives, but creating conditions for artists, cultural workers and those shaping cultural life to speak in their own registers, and for collective voices to gather meaning.

‘40 Years, 40 Voices’ continues this journey. Alongside artists and practitioners we admire, we have invited voices from within the organisation and our Board, recognising that our work behind the scenes is part of the same ecology we share with the communities we work alongside.

These voices do not define a single story, but trace the many lived experiences, histories and diasporic imaginaries that shape who we are becoming. At this moment, we continue to connect, contextualise, evolve and imagine with others, looking toward the decade ahead with care and curiosity.

Follow our social media channels to stay updated as ‘40 Years, 40 Voices’ unfolds.