Earthly Paradise: Radical Living in the UK explores the people and places that have helped shape art and activism across Britain over the last 200 years. Through objects, painting, drawing, photography, sound and archival material, Earthly Paradise highlights individuals and communities that defied contemporary conventions and the homes they created to realise their new visions of society. The exhibition considers the role that money and class have played in providing access to these spaces and the freedom to challenge social norms. It traces the roles activist groups and those excluded from and overlooked by mainstream society have played in imagining new ways of living and seeing the world.

The exhibition is curated by Hadrian Garrard, Director of William Morris Gallery; Linsey Young, independent curator; and Tayyabah Tahir, Assistant Curator at William Morris Gallery.

Learn more about the ideas behind the exhibition with this introduction to the show’s objects and themes.

Read more about the exhibition here.

Image: A Reading Room, Dial House, 2025 Matthew Arthur Williams