20/20 was an ambitious 3-year programme announced by the Decolonising Arts Institute in November 2021, with funding from Freelands Foundation, Arts Council England and UAL.
Combining artist residencies with artistic commissioning at scale, 20/20 brought together 20 emerging artists of colour and 20 UK public art collections, leading to 20 new permanent acquisitions.
This work was a response to urgent calls for action within arts and culture, to tackle social inequities and racial injustices amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the wake of Black Lives Matter. The programme supported ethnically diverse artists to take up residencies with public art collections across the country; leading to the collections’ permanent acquisition of new commissioned works, a series of commissioned texts; and a public programme bringing artists, curators and writers into conversation.
