Graphic Witness artist Nidhal Chamekh and exhibition curator Kate Macfarlane discuss what happens to individuals caught up in political turmoil. How can drawing provide evidence of injustice, create powerful commentary and prompt social change?

Tunisian artist Nidhal Chamekh leads a drawing masterclass, demonstrating drawings styles and his montage technique, with opportunities for participants to work with pen, pencil and ink. Nidhal Chamekh deploys classical drawing as a forensic tool to uncover evidence of historic acts of governmental injustice and brutality in his native Tunisia and to produce both small and large scale drawings that comment on the unfolding political events in the region. The small scale drawings are characterised by assemblages of heterogeneous images whilst the larger works use more traditional composition. His works on paper, executed in graphite, demonstrate his highly skilled drawing techniques.

Visual presentations of academic papers including ‘On the Drawings of Andrea Bowers’ by curator and writer Hannah Ellul; ‘Protest Drawings’ by artist Joy Gerrard; and ‘Nancy Spero: The War Series’ by art historian Rachel Warriner

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This talk by artist Joy Gerrard will explore her practice which investigates protest crowds and occupation of urban spaces, archiving media images from the Trump Resistance, Occupy movement, Arab Risings and many more. Exploring the historical and iconographic qualities of these images, her studio-based work (re)presents them in detailed pen and ink drawings, and more recently large ink works on canvas.Camberwell College of Art, 1 Wilson Road London SE5 8LU

Gorvy Lecture Theatre, RCA School of Fine Art, 1 Hester Road, Battersea, London, SW11 4AN​

This panel of artists Mounira Al Solh, Catherine Anyango Grünewald, Erik van Lieshout, chaired by Margarita Gluzberg, will consider the notion of the ‘Graphic Witness,’ a term that harnesses the power of drawing to challenge and question the status quo, reflecting on its capacity to record and reflect protest, as well as to produce images that bear witness to social injustice and even the horrors of war. It explores the way drawings can move beyond documentation of man’s inhumanity to man to become active agents in understanding how political ideals are corrupted, and reminders not to stand by, but to act. The panel discussion emerges from the exhibition Graphic Witness at the Drawing Room, curated by Kate Macfarlane.​

Part of RCA’s Visual Cultures Lecture Series 2016/17: Orientations - Locate & Reshape​

Leading this drawing workshop, Mounira Al Solh will speak about strategies artists and writers adopt for dealing with disasters, in times of wars or in times of dormant conflicts or even repression. She will make reference to her own work, and to artworks and writings that have marked her, by, for example, Rabih Mroué and Lina Saneh, Yassin al-Haj Saleh, Walid Raad, Ziad Kalthoum and Yto Barrada. The workshop will explore ways to represent the ideas that arise, using drawing, embroidery and collage.

The gallery is open for the final hours of  Drawing Biennial 2017, providing a last chance to view work and place bids before the close of the online auction at 9pm. Staff will be on hand to provide information about…

Drawing Biennial 2017 participating artists Matt Calderwood, Vanessa Jackson and David Musgrave will introduce their work in the exhibition and select their favourites from the 248 works on view.   FREE, all welcome

We are open till 8pm for Late Night Friday. Join us for a chance to see Heather Phillipson's Annotations commission in the Outset Study and Drawing Biennial 2017 exhibition and auction. We are delighted to announce that Heather Phillipson has…

​Hosted by Drawing Room Patron and Advisory Board member Véronique Parke, guests will start the evening with a tour of Drawing Biennial 2017 by Drawing Room Co-Directors, followed by an in-conversation between Annotations artist Heather Phillipson and Kate Macfarlane. The dinner will take place in the gallery from 7:30pm.

Artists in Drawing Biennial 2017 have been selected by Drawing Room Directors Mary Doyle, Kate Macfarlane and Katharine Stout. Join Mary and Kate for an informal tour of the exhibition as they discuss key trends and ideas within the selection.
FREE, all welcome

Artists Sonia Boyce, Margarita Gluzberg and Bob and Roberta Smith present drawings that were pivotal to their development as artists, and discuss the role that drawing plays in their practice.

A charged Yoga class taking place in the gallery, surrounded by historic and contemporary Tantric artworks of our current exhibition Thinking Tantra.

A presentation by Alexander Gorlizki and Sarah Victoria Turner. Gorlizki will give an illustrated talk drawing together some of the historical and philosophical aspects of Tantra. Turner will present the exhibition Thinking Tantra as a testing ground for rethinking the esoteric in relation to visual art. The event will be introduced by Rebecca Heald, curator of Thinking Tantra.

Yu-Chen Wang’s new performative work marks the culmination of her Annotations residency in Outset Study. Performed by actress Akiya Henry, this work involves interaction with selected books in Outset Study and a reading from Wang’s new writing.

An opportunity for our Drawing Circle supporters to visit the studios of artists Andrew Bick, Laura Eldret, Nick Goss and David Musgrave to hear about their recent work.