Display space
Do you have photographs, art, poster displays or hobby crafts you would like to exhibit? We are always on the lookout for new displays and exhibits - anything with a visual appeal that you feel passionately about or think might interest or educate other people. We are really happy to help you think about what your display might look like, put it up and take it down afterwards.
The Library is one of the busiest venues of campus and your display will enjoy attractive natural lighting and a high footfall of visitors. Any student, staff member or person associated with the University can display their work. If you are thinking about putting together a display we would love to hear from you, so please get in touch.
Details and dimensions of our display boards and cabinets are available as a downloadable pdf guide.
Follow the links below for photographs of recent displays. Older exhibitions can be found in our archives.
Art of Glass & The Serenissima of the South Coast
A body of sculptural work constructed using found objects from Southsea Beach alongside a photography project examining heritage, nostalgia and how architecture and cultural artefacts change over time.
View images of Simon Holliday's Art of glass exhibition
View images of Simon Holliday's The Serenissima of the South Coast exhibition
Introduction from the artist
Hi! My name is Simon Holliday, and outside of my current employment as a Senior Teaching Fellow in Nursing at the University of Portsmouth, I am an artist. Being very excited to have this opportunity to display my work, I have chosen work from two different projects, both of which are related - either directly or indirectly - to the local landscape.
The first project, which I call Art of Glass, is probably best described as a body of sculptural work which I've been constructing using found objects. This project is born out of my habitual tendency towards beachcombing. In particular, this tendency to collect objects of interest from the shoreline around Hampshire. The pebbles and mud around Southampton Water, the River Hamble and Portsmouth Harbour where I most often go beachcombing are rich sources of human rubbish. And within me there resides that childish tendency to pick up and then like a magpie, to want to keep and hoard all of the curious objects that I find. Everything that sparkles and shines, everything unusual, or things that become repetitive and collectable… glass and pottery, tiles, rope, cigarette lighters, toys, bones, fossils, and when I’m lucky… clay-pipes or stone-age tools.
Walking the landscape, and looking at the human artefacts, as a method of exploring and understanding contemporary culture, society and politics, is an approach which links the beachcombing of Art of Glass with the other project that I have chosen to exhibit: The Serenissima of the South Coast. This photographic project was inspired and informed by two significant influences: The writer (and University Teacher) W.G. Sebald and the American land artist, Robert Smithson.
