Saturday 16th – Sunday 17th May 2026, 11am – 6 pm, at The Hub, 42 Bonar Rd, London SE15 5FB.
Un-Earthing is an exciting new exhibition that explores decolonial perspectives of land, power and the ethics of sustainability. Featuring six artists, all with global roots, whose work ranges from painting and sculpture to digital works, Un-Earthing speaks on the realities of a world shaped by the extraction of land and human labour.
Un-Earthing weekend also includes creative workshops (free and all ages welcome), and a conversation with the curator and artists exploring their work and the themes of the exhibition.
Presented by Blue Patch, the UK’s sustainability-minded business community, and Artists’ Open House Dulwich Festival 2026 at The UAL Hub, a multi-functional space in Peckham where people can meet, run workshops, give talks, host exhibitions and exchange ideas.
Six Artists exhibiting their work:
Matilde Araoz Ellis https://www.matiaraoz.com/
Magali, A Cult https://cultist.cargo.site/
Jonah Hoffman https://www.jonahhoffman.com/
Chiedu Okonta https://www.chieduokonta.com/
Nasrah Omar https://www.nasrahomar.com
Bissy Riva https://www.bissyriva.com/
Curated by Douceline van Caloen @doucelinevc
Free and Interactive Creative Workshops – all ages welcome
16th-17th May, 11am-6pm
The Big Paper: Get messy with Un-Earthing, grab a marker, draw, ask a question and join in a collective visual conversation.
The Seed Assembly: Join in for a hands-on workshop of seed-pod making that swaps extractivist practices for collective care.
Stitch & Patch (11am-2pm, Sun 17 May): Bring along your old jeans or a denim jacket to learn basic textile mending, including patch-making and simple repairs.
A Collective Conversation on Un-Earthing
Sat 16th May, 2.30-3.30pm
Join the curator and artists for an open discussion about their work and the narrative of the exhibition.
Words from the artists
Matilde Araoz Ellis “My work investigates the folklore and belief systems that surround mining communities in Bolivia and Cornwall: peering through a non-linear lens into the histories of tin mining and the emergence of lithium extraction. I use sound, textile and sculpture to weave existing stories with my own speculations on the landscapes both below and above the ground.”
Magali, A Cult – “Salt has been extracted and used as a preservative for millennia. The number one currency until very recently, I work to look at salty regions of the world and their geopolitical situations.”
Jonah Hoffman “I work with cobalt blue as both material and subject, tracing the global systems of energy, labour, and power that produce the colour, revealing how art production and everyday technology are embedded in systems of exploitation. By using cobalt, I make my own complicity explicit, confronting the limits of ethical art-making within an extractivist economy where everyday infrastructure and commodities are produced through the exploitation of land and labour.“
Chiedu Okonta – “ ‘A 9ja (Niger) Delta Speculative Future’, retitled: ‘We no go wear hoodie for house’ (We won’t wear hoodies at home) is a self-portrait of a Utopian Niger-Delta. An alternate
or healed region without the plagued and crippled social, economic and ecological landscape.”
Nasrah Omar “I build interdisciplinary worlds rooted in resistance and re-enchantment. My practice weaves together ancestral knowledge, diasporic memory and speculative futures, creating layered spaces where healing, dissent and collective dreaming take root.”
Bissy Riva “My work is rooted in a deep fascination with the natural world, investigating the unseen structures and hidden systems that shape ecological environments. Layered use of colour transforms these systems into meditative puzzles, revealing rhythms and patterns that mirror the complexities of human experience.”
About the curator
Douceline van Caloen is a Hong Kong-Belgian curator and a 2025 graduate of the Royal College of Art’s MA Curating Contemporary Art. Un-Earthing is the first project developed through Blue Patch’s new Associate Programme.
About Blue Patch
Blue Patch is the UK’s sustainability-minded business community and social enterprise. Founded in 2014 by artist and teacher Jane Langley, Blue Patch supports small businesses to reduce carbon emissions and waste through practical courses, workshops and peer connection.
Explore Blue Patch membership