Temporary Displays

The Harris is proud to unveil its engaging temporary displays.

Featuring a lineup of internationally acclaimed artists, local talent, and community-led stories across art, culture, and history.

Highlights include:

• Collection in Focus: Sir Chrisopher Le Brun | Located in The Art Gallery – An opportunity to see highlights from the collection that we wouldn’t normally get the opportunity to display. This Collections in Focus is a series of works by Sir Christopher Le Brun collected in 1987 and 1983 with support from the Contemporary Art Society and the V&A Purchase Grant Fund. Le Brun is a painter, printmaker, sculptor and teacher. He was born in Portsmouth in 1951 and trained at the Slade and Chelsea Schools of Art in London. He was elected Royal Academician in 1996, was President of the Royal Academy from 2011 to 2019 and was awarded a Knighthood for services to the Arts in 2021.

• Hannah Sabapathy | Second Floor Staircase and Special Collections – A major new commission focussing on global links between South Asia and Britian’s textile industry during the 1800s, with an emphasis on patterned fabrics. Hannah’s research centred around The Textile Manufacturers of India, a set of 18 volumes of fabric samples held at The Harris. Made possible by 20/20, a 3-year funded programme led by the UAL Decolonising Arts Institute, supported by funding from Freelands Foundation, Arts Council England and UAL. Read more about the project here.

• Khaled Hafez | First Floor Staircase – The Harris commissioned Khaled Hafez, an acclaimed artist of Egyptian heritage, to explore shared histories of conflict and connection that exist between Preston and Egypt. The starting point for this new artwork was a series of murals known as the ‘Egyptian Balcony’. An IWM 14–18 Now Legacy Fund Commission in partnership with The Harris. Read more about the project here.

• Preston’s Caribbean Stories | First Floor Rotunda – Preston’s Caribbean community has enriched life in the city for over 50 years. They’ve made Preston their home and brought music, carnival and a shared love of cricket. Their stories reveal the celebrations and challenges faced by those who’ve helped make Preston the vibrant city it is today.

• The Tea on Tea | Second Floor Balcony – Uncovering the global and often uncomfortable histories of tea in a new display on the Second Floor Balcony. We partnered with experts and community groups aiming to shine a light on these histories in an honest and open way.  To communicate this narrative, The Harris has partnered with and artist to produce a 12-page comic book. Our chosen artist, Eddy Nicholls, is a Manchester based illustrator, writer and designer who is a huge fan of telling narratives through art.

Archived Exhibitions:

• A Measure of Care – Artists Ruth Levene and Ian Nesbitt took a ledger written in the late 19th century out of The Harris archives and returned it to the place where it was written. The ledger was written by John Weld (1813 – 1888), in 1880 – 1888 a Victorian landowner, antiquarian, naturalist, and amateur painter who lived at Leagram Hall near Chipping. The artists asked local farmers, birders, residents, ornithologists, conservationists and historians to reflect on what they read and their stories and observations take the form of a new film. In partnership with In Certain Places. Read more about the project here.