The impulse to collect is tied to our desire for meaning, belonging and understanding of ourselves and of society.

Coventry Biennial 2025 facilitates a collective exploration of the roles and functions of collecting within the art, museum, heritage and knowledge production sectors, as well as in the wider community and the artists’ studio. 

This major group exhibition brings together new artworks that reimagine and take inspiration from collections and archives and the works in this exhibition are especially focused on family archives, and queer identities and practices.

A number of the artists additionally respond to the history and context of the site, ranging from its religious role as a medieval monastic house, to the work of its Georgian occupier who ran a seed distribution business, to its more contemporary use as parkland.