12 Years of Turf: In-conversation with Jasleen Kaur & Chris Alton

What support do artists need to develop a creative career? As part of our 2025/26 LEGACY programme year, we're inviting Turf alumni artists back to reflect on and discuss their careers since their involvement with Turf.

Join artists Chris Alton & Jasleen Kaur for an informal discussion about their initial involvement with Turf, how Turf laid the groundwork for their practices and working processes, and what they've been up to since.

ABOUT CHRIS ALTON:

Chris' practice spans a range of media and approaches, including; socially engaged projects, video essays, textile banners, and publications. Across his projects, he has addressed an array of interconnected social, political, economic and environmental concerns, including; public space, mythology, soft power, tax avoidance, Britain's colonial history, and climate justice, amongst others.

Exhibitions & commissions include; Grief Must be Love With Nowhere to Go, Bloc Projects (2024, with Emily Simpson); Tied to Everything Else, Paradise Works, Salford (2023) The slabs whistle; a song under my wheels, KARST & Take A Part (2022); Throughout the Fragment of Infinity That We Have Come to Know, The NewBridge Project, Gateshead (2020); Link & Shift, Eastside Projects, Birmingham (2019); Survey, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art; Bluecoat, Liverpool; g39, Cardiff; & Jerwood Space, London (2018-19); Bloomberg New Contemporaries, South London Gallery; & Liverpool Biennial (2018-19); Adam Speaks, The National Trust, Croome, Worcestershire (2017); and Outdancing Formations, Edith-Russ-Haus, Oldenburg (2015).

ABOUT JASLEEN KAUR:

Jasleen is an artist making with the slurry of life. Raised amidst betrayal, secrecy and banished outsiders, her work is to make sense of what is out of view or withheld. She is called towards plurality, declassifications, polyphony, the blur. She is practising singing in the sediment till she is intoxicated.

Her work has been shown at Tate Britain (2024), Tramway, Scotland (2023), Touchstones Rochdale (2021), Wellcome Collection, London (2021), Serpentine Civic, London (2020), Glasgow Women’s Library, Scotland (2019), Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle (2019), MIMA, Middlesbrough (2018), Cubitt Gallery, London (2018), Eastside Projects, Birmingham (2017), Jerwood Space, London (2015). In 2019 her book Be Like Teflon was co-published by Glasgow Women’s Library and Dent-de-leone. She was awarded the Paul Hamlyn Artist Award in 2021 and winner of the Turner Prize 2024.

ABOUT TURF:

Founded in 2013 by Croydon locals, Turf is Croydon’s homegrown artist space and the first entirely artist-run contemporary art space in the borough. Based in Croydon’s Whitgift Shopping Centre, we put on free exhibitions 7 workshops, provide affordable artist studios, run a free creative project space for locals & host a number of other local creative organisations and collectives. A registered charity, Turf aims to provide paid opportunities for artists and creatives who might otherwise be undersupported.

A request from the Turf team - if you book, please turn up!

Around 30% of people booking free tickets don't attend. As a charity, we aim to support people who need creative opportunities the most and our free tickets are limited and in high demand. Every person who doesn’t turn up means someone else can’t attend, so please let us know if you can’t make it to free up a space. If you don’t attend twice or more without letting us know, you may be restricted from booking again.

• To help us support you best, please let us know if you have any access needs when booking.
• For access info about getting to Turf and the Turf space, click here.
• Our unit in the Whitgift Centre is 7 minutes walk (0.3 miles) from West Croydon Station and 8 minutes walk (0.4 miles) from East Croydon station.

Turf aims to be a space where all are welcomed & respected. We ask all attendees to align with this spirit when booking and support us in creating a welcoming & collaborative atmosphere together. We ask that everyone is;

• Kind and respectful in our language and behaviour towards others. Turf is a space which is anti racism, sexism, homophobia and ableism.
• Considerate of others’ time; allowing others room to speak & engage.
• Respectful of the space itself as belonging to many people, treating the space & objects with care.

Also check out other Arts events in Croydon, Fine Arts events in Croydon, Workshops in Croydon.