Positions in Contemporary Art: Europe Across Borders

Organised by the European Parliament Liaison Office in the UK, in partnership with the Embassy of Denmark in the UK, and curated by Kollektiv Collective, the exhibition features ten emerging artists from the European Union and the United Kingdom, exploring and celebrating themes of cross-cultural and cross-border exchange.  

The exhibiting artists are Juan Alejandre, Shayna Fonseka, Ben Grosse-Johannboecke, Nuria López Blanco, Eleni Papazoglou, Gabriela Pelczarska, Signe Elīza Pook, Michaela Šindlerová, Linnea Skoglösa and Ihsan Saad Ihsan Tahir. They are all current students and recent graduates of UK art schools, coming from nine different countries; the Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Spain and Sweden. The artists have been selected via an open call and invitation by Kollektiv Collective. Their works reflect on themes of movement and stillness, collectivity and isolation, hope and anxiety at a formative stage in their careers.

Reflecting on decades of European integration, this exhibition considers how our stories continue to be shaped individually and collectively. It invites the ten students and alumni to attest to the social, cultural and economic dis/connections that forge their paths across borders. 

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Kollektiv Collective is a London-based curatorial collective founded by independent curators and writers Pia Zeitzen and Sasha Shevchenko in 2019. Their works range from exhibition-making, publishing, and collaborative research, rooted in decentralised structures and collective authorship. Exploring the politics of space, labour and language, the duo approach curating as a fluid, process-led act that relies on site-specific methodology. They previously curated exhibitions at the Austrian Cultural Forum (London), Palo Gallery (NYC), Inspection Pit (West Sussex), Tabula Rasa Gallery (London), and Christie’s (London) among others.

The ten artists were selected through an open call and by invitation from the curators, where there were over two hundred submissions. The selected artists all demonstrate artistic excellence whilst proposing thoughtful interpretations of the exhibition’s theme. Striving to represent a balance among EU Member States, while taking personal narratives into account, the final selection of artists speaks to a diversity of experiences and approaches fostered within UK higher education. 

The exhibition is part of the programme of the Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Europe House - 12 Star Gallery 
32 Smith Square 
London SW1P 3EU 
Opening hours: Monday - Friday, 10am-6pm

12 December 2025 - 23 February 2026