Hands-on is delighted to introduce the guest speakers who will support our artists during the fourth edition of our residency programme: Senem Cagla Bilgin-Keys is a London-based independent curator, art advisor, and founder of Art Elsewhere. Her research-driven practice explores ecology, migration, and identity. She has curated exhibitions across London and beyond, and has collaborated with Tate Patrons, Lehmann Maupin, and Podbielski Contemporary since 2013. Lawrence Van Hagen is an art and design advisor working with private, corporate, and institutional collections worldwide. As a curator, he has organised major exhibitions in Paris, Mumbai, and London (2025), as well as India’s first Pop Art exhibition at NMACC (2024). He advises brands including Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and sits on the arts board of Sisley Paris. Hettie Judah is a London-based writer, critic, and curator. She has contributed to publications including The Guardian, Frieze, and Apollo, and was chief art critic for The i (2016–2024). She recently curated Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood (Hayward Gallery, 2024–25), touring major UK institutions. Maria Positano is a visual artist working between Italy and London, whose practice spans sculpture and installation. A graduate of City & Guilds of London Art School and the Royal College of Art, she has exhibited internationally, including at Artissima and ArtVerona, and is a recipient of the Gilbert Bayes Award (2024). Céline Seror is an independent curator and consultant. She co-founded Artness (2013) and co-created The Art Momentum (2018), and has contributed to publications amplifying diverse artistic voices. Since 2021, she has co-curated the travelling exhibition Memoria: accounts of another History, presented internationally.

Hands-on is pleased to announce the fourth edition of its residency programme. Taking place from 11 May to 21 June 2026, this cohort will bring together Ana Benavides, Farnaz Gholami, Jingshan Ding, Regina Torres Thompson, and Seongeun Lee. Under the overarching theme 'Developing a More Human Future', this edition establishes a collective space for rethinking what it means to live together across distances, cultures, and lived experiences, at a moment when more attentive, humane forms of language, perception, and relation feel increasingly urgent. Through this exchange, the residency explores how cultural encounter can generate more empathetic and interconnected ways of thinking, culminating in a dialogue as a moment of synthesis, where individual contributions come together to form a temporary commons of ideas. Residency projects will be on display at A Space Residence (London) in July 2026, as part of a group exhibition curated by Senem Cagla Bilgin-Keys.

Hands-on Residency is a six-week online programme dedicated to support contemporary artists and designers by fostering deep critical reflection and cultural exchange. By leveraging the diversity of participants’ geographies and backgrounds, the residency creates an environment of collaborative thinking and translocal dialogue that supports practitioners in further developing their work and connects them to an international ecosystem of creative stakeholders. Throughout the residency, participants engage directly with a range of invited thinkers, including art historians, writers, curators, and critics, creating opportunities for sustained reflection on their practice. The programme prioritises collective exchange, critical discussion, and interdisciplinary approaches, allowing artists and designers to situate their work within broader cultural, political, and historical contexts. Each edition of the residency is centered around a specific thematic focus, which guides the development of a final group exhibition held in London at the end of the programme. The show aims to contextualise the projects produced during the residency through a curatorial lens and present them within a cohesive narrative that facilitates public dialogue, understanding, and appreciation.