Intangible Labour and the New Folklore Exhibition

The Intangible Labour and the New Folklore exhibition, taking place at Leicester Adult Education Gallery on Belvoir Street brings together artists, performers, and musicians who are interested in the kinds of work that usually go unnoticed. This is not labour measured in hours, wages, or output, but the quieter effort involved in creativity, care, endurance, and emotional commitment.

The exhibition and the accompanying podcast explore how much artistic work happens below the surface. Artists speak about the time, risk, and personal investment involved in making images, performances, and music. Much of this labour leaves little behind once a moment has passed, yet it shapes how culture is felt and remembered.

Folklore plays an important role in this conversation. Here, folklore is not treated as something old-fashioned or fixed in the past. Instead, it is understood as something living and changing. Punk music, graffiti, work songs, disability performance, and improvised sound are all presented as modern forms of folklore, carrying shared stories about struggle, joy, loss, and belonging.

Some of the work touches on difficult experiences, including illness, vulnerability, and personal hardship. These themes are approached carefully, not to shock, but to acknowledge that creativity is often tied to real life challenges. Making art can involve emotional and physical effort that is rarely visible to an audience.

Music and performance feature strongly, reminding us that some of the most meaningful cultural moments cannot be fully captured or repeated. A song sung once, a performance witnessed briefly, or a sound drifting through a space can leave a lasting impression without ever becoming a permanent object.

At its heart, Intangible Labour and the New Folklore is about connection. It asks how people come together through shared experiences, and how culture is created not just in galleries or on screens, but in everyday acts of expression. The podcast offers listeners a chance to hear these ideas unfold through conversation, reflection, and live performance, inviting us to listen more closely to the unseen work that keeps culture alive.