Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

David Dimbleby marks stepping down as chairman of art gallery with exhibition

David Dimbleby said co-curating the exhibition ‘has been an exhilarating experience’ (Mark Allan/Hat Trick Productions)
David Dimbleby said co-curating the exhibition ‘has been an exhilarating experience’ (Mark Allan/Hat Trick Productions)

David Dimbleby is marking the end of his time as chairman of an art gallery by curating an exhibition with his daughter Liza Dimbleby.

The former Question Time presenter, 85, is known for previously fronting the BBC’s general election and royal coverage, and will hold the Drawing The Unspeakable art show in Eastbourne.

Dimbleby said: “Co-curating this exhibition has been an exhilarating experience. Liza has always been my companion and guide through the world of art. For a time, during the Covid lockdown, rather than write to each other, we would exchange drawings by email.

David and Liza Dimbleby standing near each other on steps
David and Liza Dimbleby (David Edwards/ Towner Eastbourne)

“This was what gave Joe Hill the idea of asking us to put on this exhibition – drawing taking the place of words.”

The guest curation takes place at Towner Eastbourne in the seaside town from October 2024 to April 2025 shortly after Dimbleby steps down as chairman of the art gallery, an independent charity, in September.

It will show work by prominent artists including painter David Bomberg, sculptor Barbara Hepworth, Madge Gill and caricaturist and printmaker James Gillray, along with drawings from Towner and from other collections such as London’s British Museum, Bethlem Museum of the Mind and Ben Uri Gallery and Museum.

Artists Dennis Creffield, Elisabeth Frink, Eric Ravilious, Denzil Forrester, Emma Talbot, Ansel Krut and Emma Woffenden are also among those with works featured in the exhibit.

The artwork Liza by Massimo Franco
Liza by Massimo Franco (Lizaby Massimo Franco/Towner Eastbourne)

Accompanying the body of work is a written conversation between Dimbleby and Liza about their different viewpoints as journalist and artist, respectively, and as father and daughter.

Artist Liza says: “Drawing is a way of speaking. The hand-drawn image is able to convey ambivalence and even contradictory impulses, which can make drawing more eloquent than words in communicating the most confounding aspects of human experience, showing us things that even the person drawing may not foresee.”

More than 100 drawings will feature to “communicate experiences that are beyond words” and “navigate the impasse of speech to illustrate what can be shown when words fail”.

The gallery also said it would draw on ideas such as “disasters, war, displacement, destruction, mental illness, grief, loss, dreams, memories and imagining”.

Andrzej Jackowski's Study for Portrait of Dr Groddeck of Baden-Baden, 1978
Andrzej Jackowski’s artwork Study for Portrait of Dr Groddeck of Baden-Baden, 1978 (Towner Eastbourne/Andrzej Jackowski)

Joe Hill, director and chief executive of Towner Eastbourne, said: “We are delighted to host David and Liza to curate this exhibition and to celebrate 10 successful years of David’s leadership of our board. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank David for his dedication and work on our behalf .

“What could be a more fitting end to his journey with us than to ask him to curate an exhibition with his daughter. This thought-provoking exhibition will encourage our audiences to look again at the drawings in our collection, through David and Liza’s unique lens.”

The exhibition takes place from Oct 5 2024 to April 27 2025.