October Exhibitions Spotlight Decay, Memory, and Alternative Fashion Across Europe

Five major exhibitions opening in October 2025 challenge conventional aesthetics and explore themes of memory, decay, and alternative narratives. At the Barbican Centre in London, 'Dirty Looks' presents 60 designers from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas who embrace dirt and decay as symbols of resistance against polished fashion stereotypes, running until 25 January. Shanay Jhaveri, Head of Visual Art, notes the exhibition invites reconsideration of beauty's regenerative power. In Edinburgh, Matthew Arthur Williams displays new work at Stills until 18 October, merging family archives and oral histories to investigate memory, queerness, and race through moving-image artworks and self-portraits. Aboard ferry F2 departing from Amsterdam Central Station, Fidelio Faustino's 'Tapsei' at Foam explores Afro-Caribbean experiences and memory orientation until 23 November. Camden Arts Centre in London hosts Karimah Ashadu's first UK solo exhibition 'Tendered' from 10 October to 22 March, featuring her new film 'Muscle' about Lagos bodybuilders alongside earlier Nigerian works; Ashadu won the Silver Lion at the 2024 Venice Biennale. Huxley Parlour in London exhibits Jem Southam's iconic 'The Red River' series from 24 October, documenting Cornwall's post-industrial landscape and disappearing tin mines over two decades.