Devonshire Collective, Photoworks, BACKLIT and Aspex announce Tessa Boffin: Where We Touch the Archive, an ambitious national touring exhibition responding to the work of artist and activist Tessa Boffin (1960–1993).

The exhibition will launch at Devonshire Collective on 18 July 2026 before travelling to Nottingham, Brighton and Portsmouth throughout 2026–27.

Tessa Boffin's practice spanned photography, writing, performance and activism, consistently challenging dominant narratives around gender, sexuality and visibility. Boffin’s work remains urgently relevant to contemporary queer and feminist communities and this project asks what it means to an archive as a generative, collective space.

The tour features work by Tessa Boffin and newly commissioned work from artists Sophie Mak-Schram and Leah McLaine, developed in direct response to Boffin's images, pedagogy and politics. Both artists and the curatorial team have been immersed in extensive archival research, drawing on collections held by the University for the Creative Arts, The Estate of Tessa Boffin/The Gupta+Singh Archives and Hales Gallery (London and New York).

This project is grounded in a collective, intersectional approach to curatorial research, led by four emerging curators whose practices are rooted in queer and feminist frameworks: Polly Wright (Devonshire Collective, Eastbourne), Jazz Swali (BACKLIT, Nottingham), Ricardo Reverón Blanco (Aspex Portsmouth, Portsmouth), and Danit Ariel (Photoworks). 

This project has received support from Arts Council England's Touring Projects grant strand and the Paul Mellon Centre, enabling an extensive programme of artist commissions, curatorial development and public engagement across all four venues.

For Devonshire Collective, Where We Touch the Archive marks the organisation's tenth anniversary and its most ambitious project to date. The exhibition also coincides with BACKLIT's launch of dedicated archive funding through Art Fund, signalling renewed institutional commitment to preserving and activating artist archives across the UK.

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Exhibition Tour Dates
Devonshire Collective, Eastbourne, UK 

18 July – 5 September 2026 
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BACKLIT Gallery, Nottingham, UK

18 September – 17 October 2026
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‍Part of Photoworks Festival 2026: Un/Stable: Lands, Anxieties, Dreams, Brighton, UK ‍
2 – 18 October 2026 
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‍Aspex Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK
2 December 2026 – 28 February 2027

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This project is co-commissioned by Devonshire Collective, Aspex Portsmouth, BACKLIT and Photoworks. Supported by Jenni Crain Foundation, The National Archives, Paul Mellon Foundation and Arts Council England. With thanks to The Estate of Tessa Boffin/ The Gupta+Singh Archives and Hales, London and New York and University for the Creative Arts Special Collections.