Projects
Circular
Futures for
Galleries.
‘Circular Futures for Galleries’ is a Circular Margate project in partnership with Turner Contemporary and funded by Arts Council England, that explores how galleries can reduce waste, extend the life of material resources and create greater social value for local communities.
Every year, galleries across the UK deliver ambitious and varied exhibition programmes that often require bespoke builds, temporary structures and specialist materials. The pace of exhibition schedules, the changing requirements of each show and the practical limitations of storage can make it difficult to retain or repurpose resources once an exhibition ends, even when they remain perfectly usable. As a result, significant quantities of material leave the system each year, often ending up in landfill.
This challenge is not unique to any one institution. As galleries increasingly seek to reduce their environmental impact, there is a growing opportunity to rethink how these resources are managed and kept in circulation.
Working with Turner Contemporary over an 18–24-month period, Circular Margate will map the flow of construction materials through the gallery’s exhibition programme and develop a practical blueprint for how arts organisations can embed circular systems of reuse. The project will identify opportunities to retain resources within the organisation, reduce waste and minimise the flow of materials to landfill.
Where resources cannot be reused internally, they will be redirected into community projects. Through a carefully cultivated network of local organisations, charities and social initiatives, residents and community groups will be able to access surplus materials for projects that strengthen neighbourhoods and contribute to the cultural life of Margate and Thanet. The project will also formalise and expand the informal material-sharing networks that Circular Margate has already developed around Turner Contemporary, which have redistributed 1.9 tonnes of exhibition materials since 2023.
As with all of its work, Circular Margate reimagines these unwanted construction materials as social assets. By redirecting them into the community, these resources can support education, skills training, employment and other local initiatives. Materials that would otherwise be thrown away instead create lasting social value and foster positive, sustainable change.
Currently, Turner Contemporary stages three major exhibitions each year, often with distinct material requirements. An exhibition centred on film and video, for example, may require substantial temporary structures to divide gallery spaces and manage acoustics. The exhibition that follows may consist largely of two-dimensional works, leaving those structures without an immediate use.
Combined with short turnaround periods between exhibitions and limited storage capacity, this can make it difficult to keep materials in circulation. Resources that retain significant practical value can therefore become surplus simply because there is no established mechanism for reusing them.
Circular Futures for Galleries will establish a roadmap that Turner Contemporary, and ultimately other arts organisations, can use to retain and reuse these materials at their highest value. By treating materials as long-term assets rather than short-term consumables, the project will help keep resources in use reducing emissions and procurement costs while continuing to deliver practical, social and environmental benefits to the wider community.
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