ELSEWHERE: David Austen & Hisham Matar
Cedric Bardawil
1–3 Old Compton Street,
London W1D 5JB
4 September – 18 October 2026
Opening Hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 12–6pm
ELSEWHERE brings together thirty new works on paper by David Austen and NEW SHOES, a short story by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Hisham Matar. Their shared subject is the double. In part inspired by Jorge Luis Borges’ meditations on the ancient Egyptian spiritual concept, the ka, an exact counterpart with your same walk and your same dress, as well as other folklore and mythic traditions, Austen and Matar engage with the idea of a counterpart who carries on living the life you left behind, in the place you left it.
Celebrating Hisham Matar’s short story, NEW SHOES, and the complete series of drawings by David Austen, a book will be published to coincide with this special exhibition.
From the 15th –18th of October, a series of events will take place, featuring readings of NEW SHOES by Charlie Mellor, Patrick Morris, Khalid Abdalla and Tim McMullan.
Dates:
Thursday 15 October at 5pm: a reading of NEW SHOES by Charlie Mellor, operatic tenor, restaurateur and owner of Osteria Vibrato
Friday 16 October at 5pm: a reading of NEW SHOES by Patrick Morris, director and actor, most recently in Albatross
Saturday 17 October at 12 noon: a reading of NEW SHOES by Khalid Abdalla, actor and activist, recently in The Day of the Jackal and The Crown
Sunday 18 October at 5pm: a reading of NEW SHOES by Tim McMullan, actor, most recently in Fackham Hall and Moonflower Murders
For more information, please visit the link below.
