News Articles
Natural History - Nov 2025
Collection Insight: Radiocarbon dating a Woolly Rhino Tooth
Radiocarbon dating has helped piece together human history, showing when early people farmed, built homes or migrated. It’s not perfect – items older than about 50,000 years can’t be dated accurately because there’s too little carbon-14 left in them – but it remains one of our most important tools for understanding the past and the timeline of the Earth’s story and the people who lived here long before written records began. Here's what it's helped us learn about a woolly rhino tooth from the natural history collection.
Art - Nov 2025
Collection Insight: Execution of a Traitor
Millions of people across the UK have been glued to 'The Celebrity Traitors' over the last few weeks. The first episode alone has been watched by over 12 million. The series has captivated audiences with its mix of plotting, backstabbing, trust and contestants and culminates on 6 November. Who will be victorious? Will those who are Faithful successfully banish all the Traitors in time?
Press Release - Oct 2025
Celebrate Christmas at The Box
There are plenty of Christmas treats on offer at The Box this year. From late November until late December its St Luke’s church gallery will be transformed into a truly festive space with a programme of wonderful seasonal events for everyone to enjoy.
News - Oct 2025
Making Home: Taking inspiration from surrealism and technology
‘Making Home’ at The Box is one of our community engagement initiatives. Its aim is to ensure everyone feels comfortable when they visit and whilst they’re exploring the many different themes in our changing exhibition programme, with a particular focus on supporting marginalised communities through creative practice. This summer we’ve been working with Iranian artist Sepideh Takshi on a series of creative workshops inspired by our major ‘Forbidden Territories’ exhibition.
Press Release - Sep 2025
Five Years On: The Box celebrates its fifth anniversary and outlines its impact
To mark The Box's fifth anniversary, we are proud to release the results of a new report which outlines the impact the venue has had since it welcomed its first visitors on 29 September 2020.
Art - Sep 2025
Collection Insight: 'Energy Locator' by Anne Hardy
We are delighted that ‘Energy Locator’ by Anne Hardy has been purchased from Maureen Paley, a well-established art gallery, by Jill Hackel and Andrzej Zarzycki who have gifted the work to the Contemporary Art Society to present to The Box.
Press Release - Sep 2025
Looking Back: The Box secures significant funding to keep rare work of art in the UK
In early 2020, The Box announced that it had raised nearly a quarter of a million pounds from five key funders to save a rare piece of 19th century studio pottery for the nation. As we get closer to our fifth anniversary on 29 September 2025, we look back at this significant addition to the art collection.
Press Release - Aug 2025
Looking Back: Figurehead flotilla is revealed
It was an exciting day at The Box on 10 March 2020, when an impressive flotilla of 19th century ship’s figureheads was unveiled for the first time.
Art - Aug 2025
Spotlight On: Salvador Dalí
There aren’t many people who haven’t heard of Salvador Dalí (1904-1989). The Spanish painter, sculptor, graphic artist, designer, film maker and writer turned to Surrealism in 1929 and quickly became one of its most well-known names. If you visit the 'Forbidden Territories: 100 Years of Surreal Landscapes' exhibition (until 7 September 2025) you can see a beautiful work by him that is full of symbolism.
Press Release - Aug 2025
The Box unboxes developer donation
A Plymouth-based developer has donated £2,000 to The Box Foundation. Persimmon Homes Cornwall & West Devon handed over the cheque earlier this month as part of its Community Champions scheme, with Plymouth City Council’s leader, Cllr Tudor Evans, in attendance.
Art - Aug 2025
Bringing the light: Light Boxes by Jyll Bradley
One of the things you notice when you look around the ‘Jyll Bradley: Running and Returning’ exhibition is the number of light boxes that are on display in different areas of the show. Light as a material and a metaphor is something that runs through all of Bradley’s work – whether it’s through bringing light to a story, exploring the light we need to grow things, or using light in a completely different way.
Art - Aug 2025
Spotlight On: Jean Arp
Jean Arp (1886-1966) was a German-French artist renowned for his contributions to modern art through sculpture, painting, poetry and collage. Born Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp in Strasbourg, then part of Germany, he became known as Jean Arp after moving to France. Discover more about him and the three sculptures he created during the 1960s and 1970s that are on display in our major ‘Forbidden Territories’ exhibition.