Welcome to the Library's exhibitions and events page
Find out about our current and upcoming exhibitions and events, which will be taking place in one or more of our gallery spaces at the Hartley Library, the National Oceanographic Library and the Winchester School of Art Library.
Scroll through the gallery below to explore events and exhibitions currently taking place.
Looking Back, Looking Forward: Hartley Library Transformations
This exhibition will look at the Hartley Library through its five distinct phases of development from pre first world war, through the Turner Sims and Gurney Dixon work of the 1930s and 1950s and on to the 1980s and the 2000 wrap around extension. It will include a selection of items from our Archives and Special Collections, new digital content in response to the material in the archives alongside future development ideas.
There will also be a chance to view alumni memories of the Hartley Library, part of our Hartley History Postcard collaboration with ODAR, the Office of Development and Alumni Relations.
Curated by Emma Guest (Engagement Librarian), Catherine Polley (Head of Collections Engagement), Peter Webster (Head of Digital Scholarship and Innovation) and Karen Robson (Head of Archives and Special Collections).
On display at Level 4 Gallery, Hartley Library
Altered state: found, collected and reclaimed books
Curated by Dave Gibbons, this exhibition features derivative and altered artists books including a selection from the WSA Library Artist’s Book Collection.
This exhibition attempts to seek dialogue between each artistic interpretation which collectively explore the tactility of unmaking, and to celebrate the breadth of techniques at play.
On display at WSA Library
The Crochet Coral Reef: Protect Our Oceans
The Coral Reef tells the story of our oceans: their beauty, their fragility, and their power to heal. The healthy coral is a vibrant, colourful reef full of pinks, blues, oranges, and greens. Rich textures and sea creatures represent a thriving underwater ecosystem.
On display at the National Oceanographic Library
Scroll through the gallery below to explore our upcoming events and exhibitions.
Loops of Perception
Robotic vision encompasses a wide-ranging field of non-biological sensing which includes the use of artificial intelligence in the capture, processing, and creation of data. Such technologies are shaped by human perspectives and desires. The images and data produced, in turn, re-shape human perception and understanding. We identify the term ‘the loop’ to describe this recursive process. Image practitioners across disciplines are particularly affected by this as they work to make critical evaluations of the visual field, notably in the capture of data remotely. This project critically, creatively, and speculatively examines the impact of this loop through collective thinking and collaborative making. The work to be exhibited is the result of a series of transdisciplinary workshops with experts and students from the University of Southampton in the fields of art, science and technology. These workshops revolved around the making of a series of underwater imaging devices and waterproof housings, which were dropped into the River Itchen in Winchester to explore the remote capture of images as well as dialogical, creative, and AI-based methods to process and translate this data. In sharing the variety of disciplinary perspectives and asking contributors to adopt unfamiliar ways of producing and reading material, a further loop emerges, offering participants the opportunity to re-frame and re-shape approaches to the creation, translation, and interpretation of robotic forms of vision within their own fields. This loop circles between the human and the robotic, the visual and invisual, between the known and the unknown, the tangible and the distant.
Venue: Level 4 Gallery, Hartley Library
Image: Scorpion Dive, June 2025
Into The Fold
Into the Fold will feature artist book and zine makers from across the UK including WSA students, alumni, staff and local artists. Over the two days there will be tours of the Artists' Book Collection at WSA Library, printmaking activities, two exhibitions and a performative event with artist Sebastiane Hegarty.
Details on how to book will be given nearer the time.
If you have any questions about this event please contact wsaabf@soton.ac.uk.
This event will take place at Winchester School of Art.
Archives & Special Collections
Celebrating Local History and Community Month an exhibition will be curated using material from Special Collections.
Venue: Level 4 Gallery, Hartley Library
Summer Art Exhibition Exploration : Beyond Boundaries
This summer, the Library proudly presents its third exhibition, Exploration. We invite staff from across the University to contribute artworks that interpret and celebrate the theme of Exploration - personally, professionally and creatively.
Venue: Level 4 Gallery, Hartley Library
Credit: Photo by David Clode on Unsplash
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