Now Open: Come As You Really Are by Hetain Patel

Artangel presents Come As You Really Are by Hetain Patel, an exhibition featuring thousands of objects created or collected by hobbyists across the UK shown alongside a new artist film. Each hobby represents a decision to commit valuable time to living life on our own terms in a society dominated by consumerism.[insert name of organisation] is excited to be a part of a network of 13 partner organisations across the UK, collaborating to assemble a nationwide celebration of creativity and self-expression. 

Often rooted in personal experience and those of his immigrant family, Hetain Patel’s work invites us to see identity as multi-dimensional and complex, linked as much to what we choose to do as that which is assigned by birth, heritage, social norms, and conventions. The project began with a call out inviting members of the public to share the activity to which they dedicate their spare time. Hobbies of all kinds are gathered to celebrate their variation, freedom of expression and ingenuity, and in doing so Patel challenges our perception of who gets to be called creative and where the impulse to create stems from. At the heart of this project is a nationwide community of people whose labours of love are a lens through which the artist presents an alternative portrait of the UK.

The exhibition will launch in London on 18 July 2024 at Grants, a former department store in Croydon. The nationwide project continues with presentations across the UK from February 2025 onwards.

Book your tickets: tickettailor.com

Commissioned and produced by Artangel.

In partnership withFactory International, Manchester; Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea; Grundy Art Gallery,Blackpool; Museum of Making, Derby Museums Trust; National Festival of Making withBlackburn Museum & Art Gallery; Wolverhampton Art Gallery; Barnsley Civic; InvernessMuseum and Art Gallery; Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland; CCADerry~Londonderry; Hospitalfield, Arbroath; Tate St Ives.
Supported byArtangel's Guardian Angels.
With thanks to Creative Lives and Croydon Council.
Digital Partner Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Artangel is generously supported using public funding by Arts Council England, and by the private patronage of The Artangel International Circle, Special Angels, and The Company ofAngels.