The Future

Annual Exhibition
5-Day Performance Art Festival
SSA on Screen

When I took over the presidency just over a year ago, I nicked one of my children’s sparkly jotters, marking it clearly in bold- SSA IDEAS . Lots of people during the course of the last annual exhibition scribbled inspiration & controversy into that jotter, including myself. Every time I felt a bit daunted by the venerable history of the SSA or overwhelmed by art politics, I’d dip back into that confederacy if ideas, strengthened by the knowledge that many people care a great deal about the society’s future.
As aspects of this years show are the fruition of ideas, (the amazing tempered by the possible), so also is it the result of excellence and effort on the part of our council of artists and advisors. By those same criteria, next years show will be even better.
One of the best things about belonging to the SSA is the accumulation of experience of its members, a sense of community. However, we also seek to represent the new, the adventurous and that which works beyond a tradition. We simply cannot sustain this without new generations of artists wishing to join us. By extending our platform of what actually constitutes visual art practice, well…we hope to have them bashing down the door to get in !
We shall be back upstairs in the main RSA Gallery which will seem enormous, which is just as well to match our ambitions. We plan greater emphasis on early submission of installation, film & performance proposals, a showcase of international project work, on top of a stunningly open submission. We state now that we desperately need truly ambitious contemporary paintings for next year.
Plans are already far developed for an SSA initiated exhibition tour which will be launched at SSA 2006 entitled ‘The Burns Table’ including the work of renowned artists from all corners of the world, conceptually based upon the ideals expressed by the Bard… ‘to see oursels as ithers see us’. We hope you can join us…..and don’t forget to write in the sparkly jotter if you feel so inspired. KD