Eastbourne Alive

This article dates from 2023 

This year, Towner Eastbourne is host to one of the best-known prizes for the visual arts in the world: The Turner Prize. If you’re in Eastbourne to see the Turner Prize 2023 exhibition, be sure to get involved in Eastbourne ALIVE’s exciting programme of wraparound events. 

This is the first time the prize has ever been held in Sussex, and it comes to the town in an important year for Towner Eastbourne as the gallery celebrates its 100th year with a fringe festival of cultural events. The work of the four shortlisted Turner Prize  artists – Jesse Darling, Ghislaine Leung, Rory Pilgrim and Barbara Walker – is at Towner Eastbourne from 28 September 2023 to 14 April 2024, forming the centrepiece of Towner Eastbourne’s centenary celebrations. This programme of cultural events across Eastbourne includes exhibitions, activities, special events and public art commissions under the banner of Eastbourne ALIVE. 

Public Art 

To accompany the Turner Prize exhibition, Eastbourne ALIVE will present a series of major artworks across public spaces in Eastbourne by artists including Nathan Coley and Helen Cammock. Drawing on the resort’s original design from the mid-nineteenth century – laid out in long tree-lined boulevards marked by grand monuments and statues – this series of temporary public interventions explore the notion of a modern-day monument, investigating what these cultural markers might look like today and the sorts of events, objects or people they memorialise. Find details about the artists, artworks and locations via Eastbourne Alive.

Exhibitions

Alongside the presentation of the four shortlisted Turner Prize 2023 artists at Towner Eastbourne, the town will also host a range of exhibitions at lesser-known and unusual venues and pop-up spaces. Events include Promenade, an art trail across Eastbourne’s leading hotels curated by Compass Arts,  My Assembled Selves, a surreal and earthy presentation by artist Martyn Cross at Flatlands Projects and Devonshire Collective’s curation of works by five artists and art collectives at interesting Eastbourne locations, including Rottingdean Bazaar, Madeleine Pledge and Flo Brooks. Find the full exhibition calendar via Eastbourne ALIVE and the Towner Eastbourne website.

Live music and performance

Get involved in a variety of live music, dance and performance pieces during the Turner Prize season, including: a very special show at Eastbourne Winter Garden by feminist musician, producer, director, and performance artist, Peaches; a contemporary dance walking route by dance artist Yanaëlle Thiran, The Performance Path; and A Queer Collision – a live performance featuring a mash-up of private and historical queer stories created by intersectional artist Stuart Waters. For the full calendar of live events taking place across Eastbourne during the Turner Prize season, visit the Eastbourne ALIVE or Towner Eastbourne websites.

New events are being announced all the time, so head to the Eastbourne ALIVE website and follow @eastbournealive on Instagram for all the latest news and details.