Andrew Omoding joined ActionSpace in 2009, having come to our attention at a schools’ project we were running at Leighton College in North London. Andrew is Autistic and has a learning disability. Born in Uganda, he came to the UK as a refugee at the age of 12. The trauma of losing familiarity and safety, and the culture shock of arriving in a cold, confusing and sometimes unwelcoming new home had a profound impact on Andrew. He was selectively mute for the next 10 years.
Attending regular weekly studio sessions at ActionSpace has enabled Andrew to overcome numerous personal challenges, giving him stability, acceptance, a social support group and a sense of purpose. He has developed an impressive practice as both an artist and an artist educator.
In 2019 Andrew was awarded a residency at Camden Art Centre, supported by an Arts Council England Developing your Creative Practice award (a landmark grant award for a learning-disabled artist). In 2021 he was awarded a 6-month residency at Barbican Arts Group Trust and in 2022 he had an exhibition at Woodend Gallery in Scarborough. Andrew’s first major solo exhibition, Animals to Remember Uganda, at Camden Art Centre from April – June 2024 was voted “Best Exhibition of the Week” in The London Evening Standard.
ActionSpace supported Andrew’s employment as a workshop leader for Camden Arts Centre’s SEN Schools programme from 2016-2018 and for Tate Schools over the 2024/25 academic year.
It was a brilliant, joyous, and nourishing experience working with Andrew on our Artist-led Relaxed Schools Workshop Programme. Being able to get to know Andrew across an extended planning time enabled us to build strong working relationships and learn from Andrew’s and Action Space’s expertise to embed inclusive working practices into the workshop programme. During the workshops, Andrew’s effortless ability to support all the young people attending- many of whom had not been to a gallery before- to feel confident to explore and share their ideas and creativity shone through. In our Schools & Teachers team, we believe that what a young person brings to the gallery - their ideas, opinions, questions, and lived experiences - is the best starting point to engaging with art and culture. Everything they need is already inside them. Andrew’s warmth, encouragement, and generous approach to sharing his practice really set an atmosphere that demonstrated this for those young people.
– Anna-Marie Gray, Curator: Schools & Teachers, Tate Britain & Tate Modern
What does authenticity look like? In an era of high strategy and market-led obsession, Andrew
Omoding’s natural talent and creative drive stands out without effort.The Tactile Joys of Andrew Omoding, art et al
