You are invited to a special evening to mark the closing days of Come As You Really Are at The Hobby Cave at Grants, Croydon. Artist Hetain Patel will be joined in conversation by Artangel director Mariam Zulfiqar to discuss the vast celebration of people's hobbies.
Hear about the artist's long standing fascination with the activities that occupy our free time, and what he considers to be the radical act of reclaiming time in dedication to our chosen pastimes. The pair will discuss the staging of this ambitious project; from its roots in Hetain's early artistic works installed in the exhibition, to upcoming nationwide presentations with partners across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2025 - 2026.
Rumour has it that Croydon has the highest number of classic car owners in Greater London. To mark the closing weekend of Come As You Really Are in London, we have invited the Afro Classics Car Club to showcase some of their most loved cars in celebration of one of the boroughs favourite hobbies.
Visitors to the exhibition will already know the significance of cars for Hetain Patel. Join us to experience the Afro Classics Car Club from 10:00 - 16:00 on Saturday 19 October, and take one last look at the show before it closes in London.
The cars will be stationed on High Street, Croydon, outside the doors of the exhibition. The event is free to attend.
Film still from Come As You Really Are (2024)
10:00 - 16:00
His films, sculptures, live performances, paintings and photographs have been shown worldwide in galleries, theatres and on iconic public screens at sites including Piccadilly Circus, London, and Times Square, New York. His works have been presented at the Venice Biennale, Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Beijing, and in London at Tate Modern and Sadler’s Wells.
Patel's work uses choreography, text and popular culture to explore identity and freedom, appearing in multiple formats and media to reach the widest possible audience. His online video and performance work, which includes his 2013 TED talk of titled, ‘Who Am I? Think Again’, has been watched over 50 million times.
Patel is represented by Chatterjee & Lal, Mumbai, and is a supported artist at Copperfield, London, a Patron of QUAD, Derby, and a trustee of the Liverpool Biennial. He is the winner of the Film London Jarman Award, 2019, and Kino Der Kunst Festival’s Best International Film 2020, and was selected for British Art Show 9, 2021/22. In 2021 Patel received a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Artist Award, a Henry Moore Foundation Award, declined a British Empire Medal and was a judge on the Sky Arts television series, Landmark.
Patel's works are in public and private collections in the UK and internationally, including Tate, British Council, Arts Council England, Government Art Collection, Manchester Art Gallery, M+ Museum Hong Kong, KNMA New Delhi, and Fondazione In Between Art Film, Rome.