Political art at Ickworth House

A display of contemporary art at Ickworth House in Suffolk has displaced masterpieces from the collection and contains political messages

The National Trust wades into the national debate on culture and immigration with this display of tapestries created in response to the anti-immigration protests of 2025 which displaced the pictures usually hanging in this room

Artwork on display at Ickworth House comments on the anti-immigration protests of 2025, and the artist claims that ‘many individuals were using patriotism as a guise for racist views’.

From April 2026 Ickworth House hosted a display of the work of art students and lecturers from the School of Art and Design, West Suffolk. The exhibition is inspired by the literal and metaphorical bridge-building between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland by the Earl-Bishop Hervey in the eighteenth century, but visitors are also lectured about communal relations today. The Eastern Education Group website tells us about the themes of the exhibition:

‘The exhibition is called “Bridge Builder” and explores complex themes around tolerance, resistance and community. Our students have produced work that examines how we live alongside difference, opposing injustice without violence or revolution. To build bridges with individuals and communities connecting across religious, cultural, social, or political divides.’

The art brought in for the exhibition is not of any particular quality, and is shown up badly by the fine interiors of the house. Visitors hoping to see a portrait of a young man by Titian were met by some legs on public transport hanging in its place. This fine house with its superlative art collections is not well served by temporary projects of this kind.

This portrait of a young man by Titian was temporarily removed to make way for artwork from the local art school, a disappointment to art lovers who had come far to see the collection

Meanwhile, the breathtaking neoclassical Pompeian Room designed by Francis Penrose and John Crace urgently needs conservation work, and some of the windows could do with a coat of paint. Can the National Trust keep on top of the necessary maintenance of these buildings while being distracted by faddish activities which are outside its charitable purpose?

Restoration and maintenance is needed in the Pompeian Room at Ickworth House