Julita Hanlon

The Alternative Degree Show Festival was a graduate led initiative to provide an alternative way to showcase the work of the Glasgow School of Art 2021 and 2020 graduate cohort and a way to inject some much needed energy into the Glasgow cultural scene.

I had the pleasure and privilege of being part of the organising committee for the event that involved over 140 graduate artists in 140 venues across Glasgow. It can still, for a short time, be accessed on https://www.thealternativedegreeshowfestival.com/home

Swatched Silver was a group exhibition at the Haberdashery (Glasgow) curated by Blake Ballard and Louise Campion, and my works featured alongside artworks by Joshua Elza Breen-Tucci, Lilian Evans, Oliver Canessa, Abi Charlesworth, Julita Hanlon (myself), David Hicks, Anna Koutsafti, Leah McDonald, Anna Lewis, Yihao Li, Malak Naseem, Sana Obaid, Kerr B. Richardson, Louis Syed and Anton Geryon

Swatched Midnight was a group exhibition curated by Lilian Evans and Aliya Prichard-Casey and featured my works alongside artworks of Sarah Palmer, Harin Park, Johnathan Staines, Jacob Venit, Samuel Martin, Freya Patterson, Gabriella Burns, Grace Ren, Maud Wheldon-Posner, Chloé Grimes, Yahel Halevi, Josh Wirz, William Armstrong, Josh Tucci, Choin, Lilian Evans and Aliya Prichard-Casey

The following poem was embroidered on fabric:

Midnight Hour

 I rejoice in the safety of the midnight hour

An intruder in its silence

Not seeing and unseen

In the sounds of stories

That do not concern me

Do not include me

In the moving stillness of the night

I am wrapped in the cold blanket of its breath

I mourn the safety of the midnight hour

A collaborative exhibition of five artists exploring through their personal perspectives issues of identity, migration and otherness, and their impact on the sense of belonging and personal safety - issues that are timely given the increasingly negative migration coverage in press and the raise of right-wing politics. 

The exhibition showcased my work alongside Noru Innes, Nana Miyagi, Hwa-jin Seo, and Yu Wang. 

The show explored complexities of displacement and challenges of integration, the sense of alienation, heritage, and reflections on how artist’s own identities translate into work and influence the viewers. The purpose behind bringing the works together in a collaborative exhibition was to explore new, wider, richer narratives, and to invite a dialogue with the viewer.