Five inspiring events for your July diary, from folk art to an exhibition on resistance curated by Steve McQueen.
As July unfolds, warm days give way to golden evenings and the year tips gently past its height. This month brings five thoughtful happenings, from the first major UK exhibition of Indian Pichvai art to an evening of reading and reflection.
Feast, Melody and Adornment: The Art of Pichvai at Mall Galleries
The UK’s first major exhibition of Indian Pichvai art, Feast, Melody and Adornment brings together over 400 hand-painted works – each one rooted in the centuries-old traditions of Rajasthan. Pichvai are devotional textile paintings, traditionally displayed within Hindu temples behind the idol of Shrinathji, a youthful incarnation of the deity Krishna. Elaborate, intricate and deeply symbolic, they formed part of a sacred calendar of adornment, echoing the rhythm of the seasons.
Feast, Melody and Adornment is on at Mall Galleries from 2 - 6 July.
Caspar Heinemann: Birdsong and a Motorway at Studio Voltaire
An evening of readings and reflections by artists, writers and poets, held as part of the public programme for Caspar Heinemann’s exhibition Sod All. Drawing from themes explored in the show – including queer storytelling, land politics, protest and mythology – the event brings together voices that navigate the emotional and ecological textures of contemporary life.
With contributions from Penny Goring, Aurelia Guo, Rachel Pimm and Tai Shani, the evening touches on grief, spirituality and shared resistance, offering personal yet expansive perspectives on the world we inhabit.
Birdsong and a Motorway: Readings takes place at Studio Voltaire on 9 July 2025.
Santiago Yahuarcani: The Beginning of Knowledge at the Whitworth
The first international solo exhibition by Santiago Yahuarcani – artist, Indigenous activist and leader of the Aimeni clan of the Uitoto people – The Beginning of Knowledge brings together fifteen years of large-scale, narrative-rich work. Painted on llanchama, a traditional Amazonian bark cloth, Yahuarcani’s pieces are shaped by ancestral memory and the sacred knowledge of the forest.
From vivid portrayals of Uitoto origin stories to reflections on the trauma of the Putumayo genocide, the works act as visual archives of resistance and remembrance. Grounded in Indigenous cosmology, Yahuarcani invites viewers to reconsider the relationship between land, history and justice – offering an urgent call to honour what has been passed down.
Santiago Yahuarcani: The Beginning of Knowledge is on at the Whitworth, Manchester from 4 July 2025 - 4 January 2026.
Andy Goldsworthy: Fifty Years at the Royal Scottish Academy
A landmark retrospective spanning five decades of work, Andy Goldsworthy: Fifty Years brings together over 200 pieces by the internationally acclaimed land artist. From early ephemeral interventions to large-scale installations, the exhibition reveals a lifelong dialogue with natural materials – stone, ice, leaves, wool – shaped by time, weather and place.
Goldsworthy, who lives and works in Scotland, will also create a series of new site-specific works within the Royal Scottish Academy building, deepening his connection to the architecture and landscape of Edinburgh. Quiet, contemplative and deeply rooted, the exhibition invites viewers to slow down and notice the changing world around them.
Andy Goldsworthy: Fifty Years is on at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh until 8 September 2025.
Resistance at the National Galleries of Scotland: Modern Two
Conceived by acclaimed artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen, Resistance explores how acts of resistance have shaped life in the UK - and how photography has both captured and driven change. The exhibition presents around 200 powerful images, drawn from archives, collections, and previously hidden sources, documenting everything from the suffragette movement in 1903 to the mass protest against the Iraq War in 2003. Featuring canonical photographers - Vanley Burke, Fay Godwin, Edith Tudor-Hart, Tish Murtha, Humphrey Spender, Paul Trevor - and also lesser-known documentarians. Images are deliberately pre-digital, encouraging a slowed, reflective engagement with these moments in time .
Resistance is on at National Galleries of Scotland: Modern Two, Edinburgh until 4 January 2026.
Image 1: Hazel Stick Throws, Andy Goldsworthy, 1980. Courtesy of Andy Goldsworthy.
Image 2: The Haveli of Shrinathji, Stone color on Cloth, Courtesy of Sarmaya Arts
Foundation.
Image 3: Sod All, Sarah Rainers, 2025. Courtesy of Studio Voltaire.
Image 4: El Mundo del Agua, Santiago Yahuarcani. Courtesy of the Whitworth.
Image 5: Stretched canvas on field, with mineral block removed, after a few days of sheep eating it, 1997.
Courtesy of Andy Goldsworthy.
Image 6: Stop Clause 28 march, Pam Isherwood, 1988. Courtesy of Bishopsgate Institute.
Image 7: Rachel Jones, Gated Canyons, 2024. Courtesy of Rachel Jones.
Words by Lauren Sneade.
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