Join our 'Bridget Riley: Learning to See' opening celebration, 22 November from 2pm

17 November, 2025

Opening Saturday 22 November at 2pm

Turner Contemporary welcomes you to join us for the opening celebration of Learning to See, an exhibition by Bridget Riley.

Surveying Riley’s enduring connection with the natural world and her career-long study of the sensory experience of sight, Learning to See includes works from the late 60s, her most recent canvases, and wall paintings from the last decade. The exhibition also brings together preparatory works on paper showing how the practice of drawing has underpinned her working life.

To celebrate this major exhibition by one of Britain’s most influential artists, we’re hosting an evening of workshops, music, and drinks at Turner Contemporary in Margate. Enjoy creative activities for all ages in our new Drawing Studio from 2–5pm, followed by a drawing workshop for adults starting shortly after 5pm.

Downstairs in our Sunley Gallery, take in the soulful, percussive sounds of DJ Coco Cole while enjoying a drink from the bar and experiencing the gallery after dark.

Discover our new Drawing Studio

Reimagined as a flexible Drawing Studio for the next 12 months, the purpose-built space will be fully equipped with easels, materials, paper, classical plaster casts and a curated collection of inspiring objects. Evolving throughout the year, the studio will host a wide range of drawing experiences and remain a free, open and welcoming environment for all ages to explore drawing from life, nature and imagination. Planned sessions include classical technique workshops using sculpture casts, adult life drawing, botanical studies, seascape sketching, digital drawing sessions and a community showcase celebrating work created in the space.

Opening Day order of events, 22 November

2–7pm exhibition open to all
5–7pm free drop-in adult drawing workshops
5–7pm DJ Coco Cole live in the Sunley Gallery

Drinks and HOT WOOD PIZZA will be available from Louie On Sea from 2pm—7pm, with a full bar available in the Sunley Gallery from 5pm.

Drawing Workshop for adults

Led by Margate-based expanded arts practitioner Geoffrey Chambers, this relaxed and inclusive life-drawing workshop invites guests to reconnect with their creativity through mark-making, gentle movement, and music.

Taking place from 5–7pm in the newly opened Drawing Studio.

Geoffrey Chambers is an expanded arts practitioner based in Margate, drawing on traditions and histories across the Caribbean, Atlantic and Britain.

Winner of the inaugural Brixton Open (2002), Geoffrey Chambers holds a master’s degree in Race, Media and Social Justice from Goldsmiths (2019), focusing on Afrofuturism and the Afrosurreal, Chambers is currently a Trustee and artist-in-residence of People Dem Collective and teaches joy-centred mark-making.

Music by Coco Cole, a DJ shaping the sound of contemporary club culture

DJ Coco Cole will provide a soulful, percussive house soundtrack to celebrate the opening of the new exhibition.

Taking place in Sunley Gallery from 5–7pm.

Coco Cole is a UK South Coast–based DJ, curator and radio broadcaster with over a decade on national radio and more than 1.7 million monthly views across social platforms. Known for dynamic, genre-expansive sets, they were nominated by DJ Mag as Best Resident DJ for their residency at Pacha Ibiza.

They have performed at leading festivals including Love International, Body Movements, Tomorrowland and Creamfields, and run the queer-centred, music-focused club night Voguesss with Fancy Shews. Their productions appear on Gudu, Maximum Airtime, Josh Caffe’s Love Child, and their own labels Pisces Season and Universe Language—earning support from Jennifer Cardini, Eris Drew, LP Rhythm, BBC Radio 1 and 6Music.

Bridget Riley: Learning to See will be on view at Turner from 22 November 2025 until 4 May 2026.

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