This year’s festival explores the theme of attention: how we observe things and the people around us. We pick out five exhibitions to see.

Art holds up a mirror to our times. The past year has been a period of uncertainty, but also innovation. How are new artists responding?

The entwining of sexuality with spirituality defines Rotimi Fani-Kayode’s remarkable oeuvre, proposing new visions of Black queer masculinity.

“Public spaces are for the free exchange of ideas.” At Mazzoleni London, Melissa McGill draws attention to the impact of rising sea levels.

After over a year online, how do we keep things fresh and exciting? University of Worcester’s creative talents have embraced this opportunity.

In Luka Khabelashvili’s images, green grass warps like a painting by van Gogh and clouds cover faces. This is our world, but not as we know it.

Leo Fitzmaurice has perfected the art of the double take. His sculptures, on view at Humber Street Gallery, encourage audiences to look again.

The London Design Biennale 2021 shows us what world-leading designers and artists are doing to highlight and combat today’s biggest challenges.

“Traces of beauty exist everywhere around us,” says Mark Forbes, a photographer recognised for atmospheric images of urban landscapes.

Throughout the month of June, a programme of exhibitions, installations, talks, debates – both physical and virtual – explores the theme of ‘care’.

Tbilisi-based George Tyebcho’s digital scenes are mysterious and evocative; there’s a sense of narrative lurking behind the polished exterior.

We have spent more time at home than ever before. Winners of the Life Framer Photography Prize reflect on domestic spaces through the lens.

The title of Joanna Piotrowska’s new collection, Stable Vices, yields many possible readings. Entrapment emerges as a key theme throughout.

What does it mean to be human? Paulo Abreu’s images are rich in metaphor and surrealism, probing how it feels to exist in today’s world.

Prix Pictet presents a bold and original publication, highlighting a range of responses to the pandemic through the eyes of 43 visual artists.

Rui Sha is an artist with a focus on sculpture and new media. A background as a furniture designer in her native Beijing and an MFA from the School of Art Institute of Chicago have influenced her art practice. Video and nature soundscapes are combined with objects fabricated with natural materials to become carriers of emotional expressions.

@rachaellic will continue posting images on Instagram without human intervention, as long as the computer on which she is running is online.

From the climate crisis to government surveillance and capitalism, exhibitions and events in Belfast – launching this June – offer visions of tomorrow.

Dutch-born Thirza Schaap is fighting plastic pollution, transforming bottles, toothbrushes, lighters and disposable cutlery into sculptures.

We speak to Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, who explores our relationship with non-human life, considering how the natural world might evolve.

Niamh Cullen is an aspiring children’s illustrator whose work is focused on the playful, exploring themes of childhood, magic and wonder.

Bethany Wilson’s work explores bodily landscapes through drawing, mark-making and staining with inks and watered-down pigments.

Making sculptural obstacles is a main theme within Lucy Nettleton’s practice; the artist compels the audience to engage with her work.

Illustrator Amelia Wilson-Wood’s energetic imagery is focused on organic and natural forms – combined with a love and passion for music.

Hope Mitchell-Graham’s craft-based work focuses on her identity as a woman and how this intersects with a new identity as a disabled person.

Laura Campbell communicates her experience of chronic illness and the impact it has on the body through intimate and intrusive artworks.

Luca Roys is invested in “night studies” as a genre that delights and inspires, as familiar places are cast as underworlds of play and potential.

Method and media are interconnected in Ashlee Hallas’ portfolio. Her approach often consists of deconstruction and collage.

Maria Anderson is an abstract artist whose work challenges personal identity within the surrounding environment.

Evie Webb is a photographer exploring the innate merit, necessity and virtue of mortality and the ageing process, harking back to Dutch Vanitas.

Architecture and the landscape provide inspiration for Alexandra Ene, who highlights the relationship between nature and the manmade.

Jack Bowman is a studio portrait photographer interested in the properties of visually compelling aura imagery.

Steventon’s work explores the link between writing and sewing, stitch and word. It’s an exploration of communication and messaging.

Grace Alison used photography, sculpture and craft media to create a multi-dimensional series exploring her Nana’s home after being unused.

Sophie Rothwell’s The Archives superimposes one moment in time on top of another, with the image highlighting its own construction.

Sophie Martin’s practice considers 2D and 3D approaches to painting through the use of multiple delicate and easily manipulated materials.

Natasha Ahmed is an artist who lives and works in Sunderland. She takes an abstract approach, with texture and colour being the main factors.

Sarah Dallow’s work is centred on the portrayal of the female body, combining flesh with unfurling petals, framing limbs with a delicate touch.

Mia Ferullo uses self portraiture as a method to regain control over the perception of one’s body, depicting her figure unapologetically in paintings.

Manipulating light is Amy Majed’s primary aesthetic, with both artificial and natural light coming together in an amalgamation of forms.

Morgan Scott creates illustrations and sculptures based on female empowerment and sexual liberation, questioning representations of women.

John Cutting is driven to create awareness of the neglectful interferences that mankind has imposed on their natural surroundings.

Sjon Barnes explores “Non-Places”, which he defines as a space that, without humanity or the idea of capitalism, would cease to exist.

Steph Williams’ latest work addresses her experience of life in Covid19 lockdown: a personal struggle with the turmoil of heightened anxieties.

Jess Hargreaves describes her practice as “contemporary irreverence.” Through her work, she translates personal reactions to the everyday.

Emma Henderson is a queer visual artist from Yorkshire who mainly uses photographic practice to produce gender-bent and LGBTQ+ inspired art.

Sophie Cown is an architectural photographer whose work is built upon capturing and altering the perception of modern buildings.

Jay Villacci’s Alienation series of photographs conveys a sense of abandonment and entrapment prevalent within British identity.

George Strachan’s drawing-based practice is rooted in experimentation, process and enquiry – making rubbings from a textured surface.

Ellie Greensmith’s work taps into the widespread emotions from the past 12 months, exploring crucial conversations about mental health.