Artists from across the world explore conflict and unrest in new exhibition in Edinburgh

The Rupture: No condition is Permanent, featuring work from 16 international artists, is new open at the University of Edinburgh’s Talbot Rice Gallery.

Developed as a urgent response to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s high-profile address at Davos in January 2026, the exhibition echoes his declaration that the world is ‘in the midst of a rupture’.

Created in just nine months, it brings together artists responding to the political, social and economic changes around the world, through experiences of conflict, inequality, misinformation and technological transformation.

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Those participating include creators from Dublin, Ukraine, Gaza as well as Scotland using film, photography, sculpture and sound installations.

The Rupture is curated by Talbot Rice Gallery Director Professor Tessa Giblin, with contributions from Carol Yinghua Lu and in collaboration with museums in Beijing and Manila.

Professor Giblin said: “We wanted to respond quickly to a world changing around us, creating space for artists to share perspectives that can be overlooked in often increasingly difficult daily headlines.

“The exhibition confronts difficult realities, often through deeply personal experiences, but they also offer humour, generosity and hope. We hope visitors will find connections with their own lives and leave with a sense that, even in uncertain times, we all have a part to play in shaping what comes next.”

In his graphic-led film Terrible Simplifiers, Dublin-born Eoghan Ryan explores how public signs and symbols communicate meaning.

British artist Carey Young explores how institutions shape behaviour and how women encounter and exercise power. The film Appearance presents portraits of 15 women judges.

Gaza-born Taysir Batniji offers hope in No Condition is Permanent, a sculpture made from stacked bars of soap. Each bar is engraved with an Arabic phrase used to console people - 'nothing is permanent' - with visitors invited to take one away after viewing the work.

Swedish-born artist Tarik Kiswanson, whose Palestinian parents arrived in Sweden as asylum seekers, reflects on belonging and shared ideals in The Conservatory (Saint-Denis). Filmed in Paris, he follows children from immigrant backgrounds as they learn to play the European Union’s anthem, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, on the piano for the first time.

Filipino artist and human rights activist Kiri Dalena removes messages from archival photographs of protests in Erased Slogans, highlighting censorship while leaving space for future voices. Drawn from the archive of the Manila Chronicle, which was closed under Ferdinand Marcos’s regime, the images reflect her longstanding engagement with protest and political repression.

Filmmaker Li Yifan explores the lives of young, Chinese migrant workers in Why Not Dance. He combines documentary filmmaking with an AI-assisted animated rap video to share workers’ experiences of insecure employment.

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Ukrainian artist Zhanna Kadyrova examines international security assurances through her film telling the story of a sculpture evacuated from Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine, in August 2024 as Russian forces approached.

Dasha Chechushkova’s drawings and etchings convey the grief and exhaustion of living through the war in Ukraine. Drawing on influences including Goya and Bruegel, her works include designs for a memorial garden created during a residency at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, honouring friends who have died.

Scottish-based artist Margaret Salmon draws on family military histories in Alcove, created specially for Talbot Rice Gallery. Combining her personal archive with recent street photographs from Glasgow alongside everyday objects, the installation explores how conflict passes through generations.

The Rupture runs until February 13, 2027.