Backlit Gallery

20/05/2026

Afternoon dates for our Maid Marian workshop have been released!

This is your chance to participate in the creation of Nottingham’s new Maid Marian sculpture with renowned artist Alicja Biała.

📆 Dates

Saturday 23 May, 14.30–16.30
Sunday 24 May, 14.30–16.30

📍 Location: BACKLIT Gallery, NG3 1GJ
☝️ Availability: 10 places per session

RSVP using the link below.

Group workshops to meet artist Alicja Biala at BACKLIT Gallery and contribute to the new public artwork of Maid Marian

08/05/2026

Tomorrow is your last chance to see EDITION26 at BACKLIT Gallery 😳

The exhibition brings together BACKLIT artist members presenting two works from different moments in their practice: one created before 2024 and a new work from 2025–2026.

Across the exhibition, older and newer works are shown in dialogue, revealing how artistic practices evolve over time.

Opening times:

18 April – 09 May
Thursday, Friday, Saturday
12:00 – 16:00

Featured artists:

Dan Shutt
Karen Chesney
Peter Chesney
Lois Sabet
Lucy Davies
Lucy Nelson
Marcia Porto
Natalie Chung
Neville Smith
Panya Banjoko
Sara Gaynor
Theodora Prassa
Xin Chen

EDITION26 offers a collective snapshot of artistic growth within and beyond BACKLIT, inviting audiences to reflect on creativity as an evolving process shaped by time, experimentation and changing perspectives.

Recurring themes, shifts in material, changes in scale and revisited ideas trace the development of each artist’s work.

Some pairings highlight significant transformation, while others reveal quieter continuities that have remained across years of practice.

Catch it for the last time on Saturday 09 May 12-4 pm at BACKLIT Gallery.

Free entry.

01/05/2026

April News Roundup: What's on, what's coming up, and how to get involved

EDITION26 is open! Bringing together BACKLIT artists showing two points in their practice side by side, the exhibition puts the evolution of art practices in the spotlight.

Alongside the show, we’re preparing a new public sculpture of Maid Marian, launching workshops where you can help make it, and announcing the new trustees shaping our next phase.

We’ve also got a film screening on the legacy of empire, new organisations moving into the building, and updates from our studio artists.

Read the full update and subscribe on Substack: https://backlitgallery.substack.com/p/april-news-roundup

Photo credit: Josh Jones

01/05/2026

Contribute to Nottingham’s new Maid Marian sculpture in two small-group workshop with artist Alicja Biała (second image).

These workshops will contribute directly to the creation of a new public artwork of Maid Marian for the city.

During the workshop, you'll take part in a hands-on session making elements for the sculpture, and explore the stories, plants, and meanings behind the artwork.

No experience needed.

📆 Dates

Saturday 23 May, 10.30–12.30
Sunday 24 May, 10.30–12.30

📍 Location: BACKLIT Gallery, NG3 1GJ

☝️ Availability: 10 places per session

Under 16s can attend with an adult but won’t take part in making the sculptural elements.

Book via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/maid-marian-workshop-sat-23-may-sun-24-may-2026-tickets-1988561597268

About the artist

Alicja Biała is an internationally exhibited artist working across sculpture, painting and installation.

Her public projects explore landscape, ecology and cultural memory.

The Maid Marian sculpture is commissioned by Nottingham City Nottinghamshire County Council and delivered by BACKLIT Gallery in partnership with It's in Nottingham.

Photo credits: Josh Jones
Work in progress drawing: Alicja Biała

29/04/2026

BACKLIT is moving into its next phase, with seven new trustees guiding what comes next.

Please give a warm welcome to Dr. Danica Maier, Jim Hendley, Joe Harrison-Moran, Kim Thompson, Peter Bonnell, Razvan Pop, and Rose Davison 👏👏👏

We’ve shared more about our new trustees and the insights each of them will bring to BACKLIT in our a post in our brand new Substack.

Read it here:
https://backlitgallery.substack.com/p/whos-shaping-backlits-next-phase

24/04/2026

We apologise for any inconvenience, BACKLIT is closed on Saturday 25 April and will reopen as usual on Thursday 30 April.

22/04/2026

BACKLIT Gallery, Nottingham City Council () and It’s in Nottingham (), are thrilled to announce a new public artwork by artist Alicja Biała () that will be unveiled this summer.

Imagining Maid Marian as a living presence, the sculpture will take the form of a silhouette constructed entirely from cast-metal fragments. Using bronze foliage from native Nottinghamshire plants including oak, birch, hawthorn, bluebell and nettle, the work will be rooted in a sandstone plinth, embedding it directly within the city’s landscape.

Located in the new rain garden at Maid Marian Way and Upper Parliament Street, the sculpture will mark a key gateway into Nottingham. Its open form will shift with light, weather and viewpoint, framing the city while creating a space for people to gather.

Produced this spring and summer, the project invites public involvement through a series of workshops at BACKLIT — details coming soon.

Part of the £8.9 million transformation of the area, led by Nottingham City Council, the work reflects a wider investment in the city’s public realm, ecology and cultural identity.

Suzanne Golden (), Director at BACKLIT Gallery, said: “Maid Marian is a figure who bridges both the historical and contemporary identity of Nottingham. Her courageous and rebellious spirit has never faded and still reflects the strength and character of Nottingham today. BACKLIT is proud to celebrate Maid Marian and bring in a new era of tourism by shining a light on the city’s rich arts and cultural offering.”

You can find out more about the project at backlit.org.uk

22/04/2026

BACKLIT are thrilled to be working with Alicja Biala on this forthcoming public artwork at Maid Marian Way in partnership with It's in Nottingham and Nottingham City Council.

17/04/2026

Be among the first to experience EDITION26 at BACKLIT this evening from 18:00 – 20:00. 
 
Join us for the preview evening and encounter the exhibition before it opens to the public. Meet the artists, explore the works in their first moments on display, and step into the conversations that connect past and present practices. 
EDITION26 brings together BACKLIT artist members presenting two works from different points in their practice, revealing how ideas, materials and approaches evolve over time. 
 
📍 Main Gallery, second floor 
📅 Preview: Friday 17 April 2026, 18:00 – 20:00 
🎟️ Book your free place via the link in our bio 
 
EDITION26 is on view from 18 April – 09 May 
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 12:00 – 16:00 
(no booking required) 
 
With Dan Shutt, , Peter Chesney, , , , .art, .nataliechung, , , , ,

16/04/2026

We are pleased to announce that CJ De Barra (pictured) has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the BACKLIT and BFI Archive Residency ‘In the Margins of the Frame’.

Developed in partnership with BFI, this residency supports an early-career practitioner to explore the intersections between national screen heritage and grassroots, artist-led archives. Working across BFI REPLAY and BACKLIT’s Alfred House archive, CJ De Barra will develop a research-led project that considers how archives are accessed, interpreted, and activated today.

Selected from a highly competitive open call, CJ De Barra’s proposal stood out for its thoughtful approach to archival practice and its engagement with underrepresented narratives. Over the coming months, the residency will unfold across Nottingham and London, culminating in a public outcome at BACKLIT Gallery, to be shared later this year.

We look forward to supporting CJ De Barra’s research and sharing its development with you.

With thanks to the British Film Institute and The National Lottery.

CJ De Barra (they/them) is a q***r, non-binary, neurodivergent le***an author and journalist. They grew up in Rathbarry, West Cork, before emigrating to Nottingham in 2012. In 2022, CJ founded the community-led, unfunded project - Notts Q***r History Archive (NQHA), which preserves and documents LGBT+ history from Nottingham, covering 1770 to 2026. This includes 195 oral history interviews, 1260 donated items and 800+ newspaper articles on q***r heritage. These are held in two locations: Bishopsgate Institute (London), Sparrows’ Nest (Nottingham). They are currently working on a book about radical q***r archiving and studying a PhD at Nottingham Trent University.