Echoes of Us
20 Jun 2026 - 20 Sep 2026
10am-5pm Tuesday to Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday
This summer see a powerful series of works from the Government Art Collection, one of the world’s largest and most significant collections of British and British related art, in an ambitious display organised around the themes of Belonging, Memory and Connection. A selection of works from The Box’s art collection also feature and include pieces by Turner Prize nominees George Shaw and Zadie Xa.
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The Box is free to visit but to enjoy priority access to our exhibitions we encourage visitors to book a ticket in advance.
Echoes of Us places art in conversation with a series of questions about the human experience: Where do we belong? What does it mean to revisit a place, a person or a feeling? How do the connections we make shape who we are? What do our memories hold and leave behind?
Spanning work from 1692 to 2024, and bringing together painters, sculptors, photographers and installation artists in unexpected dialogue, the exhibition has been shaped through a series of conversations and workshops with a diverse group of teenagers and young adults from Plymouth over the last 12 months.
Alongside internationally celebrated names such as Barbara Hepworth, Cornelia Parker and Chris Ofili, the exhibition spotlights dynamic contemporary artists including Phoebe Boswell, Alvaro Barrington and Alberta Whittle. Future Artefact, a new commission from artist collective Keiken, takes the form of an embossed fibreglass triptych and invites visitors to touch the work and experience belonging and communication beyond language.
To coincide with the exhibition, a Children and Young People's Open will also be on display at The Box throughout the summer showcasing the creative talents of youngsters from across the South West.
Image credits:
Phoebe Boswell, We are Nourished By The Same Water, 2024 (detail) © Phoebe Boswell. Image: UK Government Art Collection.
Julianknxx, Still from Shifting / Spirit / Time, BURO Stedelijk, 2025, © Studioknxx.