In 2025 the Collecting the Now Fund supported acquisitions including Dame Sonia Boyce’s From Someone Else’s Fear Fantasy and Hew Locke’s Souvenir 17 (Albert Edward, Prince of Wales), with the latter portrait bust now displayed in the Empire and Resistance gallery.

Charli XCX is scheduled to headline the Reading & Leeds festival next month, with additional North American touring planned in September–October.

Charli XCX is highlighted as a defining artist of her era, celebrated for reinvention across music, fashion, and contemporary image-making, with notable work in film and collaborations with leading directors.

The Charli XCX portrait was acquired through Collecting the Now, a contemporary acquisitions fund backed by a 1 million-pound gift from the Bukhman Foundation.

Brandei Estes, Senior Curator of Photographs, praises Harley Weir’s distinctive blend of intimacy and presence in the portrait and expresses enthusiasm about adding Charli XCX to the collection.

The Bukhman Foundation’s gift supporting both Type 1 diabetes research and the arts funded the acquisition.

News coverage developed in near real time, with BBC and Guardian reports published about seven hours before the article’s update.

Fans will have the chance to hear new material live when she headlines Reading & Leeds, alongside other tour commitments.

Collecting the Now launched in 2025 to expand contemporary portraiture acquisitions, with recent works by Barbara Walker, Linder, Dame Sonia Boyce, and Hew Locke already added and more planned for 2026.

Other recent Collecting the Now acquisitions include Barbara Walker’s Self Portrait I (Venice) and Linder’s The Liverpool Sphinx (both 2025), slated for display next month.

Reception to Music, Fashion, Film has been mixed, with some outlets critiquing reliance on nostalgia over forward momentum.

Over the weekend Charli released three B-sides for a deluxe edition on iTunes after previously saying she wouldn’t stream them, explaining it aligned with fans’ preferences.