To mark our first anniversary, Palmer Gallery launched The Door, a new programme hosted in the annexed space at the back of the gallery.
The Door features solo presentations running in tandem alongside the main programme, but with a more direct focus on experimentation, immersion and world building. It will primarily focus on artists interested in multi-sensory installation and activating space through sound and performance.
The name The Door is inspired by a poem by Miroslav Holub, who describes opening a door as a metaphor for discovery, renewal, and possibility. Holub encourages readers to embrace change and uncertainty by stepping into the unknown.
The Door, by Miroslav Holub
Go and open the door.
Maybe outside there’s
a tree, or a wood,
a garden,
or a magic city.
Go and open the door.
Maybe a dog’s rummaging.
Maybe you’ll see a face,
or an eye,
or the picture
of a picture.
Go and open the door.
If there’s a fog
it will clear.
Go and open the door.
Even if there’s only
the darkness ticking,
even if there’s only
the hollow wind,
even if
nothing
is there,
go and open the door.
At least
there’ll be
a draught.
About Daria Blum
Daria works across video, music, text, photography, installation and performance. Her presentation for The Door is based on her reflections on the role of the live performer, and her own attempts at deflecting and withdrawing from the audience’s gaze and attention. Blum’s presentation stages an intriguing interplay of objects, text and lighting, which makes use of reflective surfaces to implicate the viewer and explore how an installation can embody or stand in for semi-fictional personas.
Daria graduated from the Royal Academy Schools in 2023. She was the recipient of the inaugural Claridge’s Art Prize, awarded by Marina Abramović, with her work recently featured at Claridge’s Art Space. She has exhibited and performed at CAPC Musée d’Art Contemporain de Bordeaux; Ilenia, London (2024); Roskilde Festival, Denmark (2023); and at V.O Curations, Piccadilly Lights, and Kupfer in London (2022). Later this year she will perform at the Tate Modern in London.
