This weekend, Strawberry Hill House welcomed visitors to Paper Castle, a new contemporary art exhibition developed in partnership with students from the MA Curating programme at the Courtauld Institute of Art.
Installed throughout Horace Walpole’s extraordinary Gothic villa, the exhibition brings together contemporary artists whose works engage with themes of illusion, artifice, memory and transformation. Taking its title from Walpole’s own description of Strawberry Hill as his “paper castle”, the exhibition invites visitors to look again at the house itself, a place built upon visual deception, imagination and creative reinvention.
Featuring installations, paintings and sculptural works by leading and emerging contemporary artists, Paper Castle creates a dialogue between historic interiors and contemporary practice. Artworks appear and disappear within the house, challenging perceptions of materiality and authenticity while encouraging new ways of engaging with Strawberry Hill’s architecture, collections and stories.
The exhibition represents an important milestone for Strawberry Hill House as its first contemporary group exhibition. It demonstrates the value of collaboration between heritage organisations, universities, artists and emerging curators, creating opportunities for new research, interpretation and public engagement.
Projects such as Paper Castle support Strawberry Hill Trust’s vision of establishing Strawberry Hill House and Garden as the global home of the Gothic, while fostering creative responses to Walpole’s enduring legacy. By inviting contemporary artists and early-career curators to engage with the house, the exhibition opens fresh conversations about the Gothic imagination and its continuing relevance today.
Paper Castle runs from 6–21 June 2026 and is included with general admission.
Our thanks go to the Courtauld Institute of Art MA Curating students, participating artists, lenders and all those involved in bringing this ambitious project to life.
Curated by: Tatiana Bainbridge, Shanna Câncio Martins, Nahui Colin, Jade Connolly, ángelina divine, Circe Marden-Rull, Oli Louise Mardon, Freddie Sheffield, Sophie Smith, Jane Marie Zelenik, and Sofia Zymnis.
Participating Artists
