Join members of the curatorial team behind Tessa Boffin: Where We Touch the Archive for an introduction to the exhibition.

Inside the Exhibition on Saturday 19 September 2026 from 12:00pm – 13:00pm

Join members of the curatorial team behind Tessa Boffin: Where We Touch the Archive for an introduction to the exhibition and the research that has shaped it.

The conversation will explore Tessa Boffin’s photography and archival material, the new commissions by Sophie Mak-Schram and Leah McLaine, and THE DRAFT—a growing publication bringing personal archives and contemporary queer experiences into the exhibition.

The curators will also reflect on working collectively across four organisations, the questions and absences encountered within Boffin’s archive, and how her work continues to speak to queer and feminist artistic practices today. There will be time for questions and shared conversation.

The event will take place within the exhibition. Seating will be available, and visitors are welcome to remain seated, change position or take a break at any point. No previous knowledge of Boffin’s work is required.

The Main Gallery is on the second floor. Step-free access is available through our staff-operated lift on Ashley Street. Please ask for lift assistance at the main entrance and a member of the team will meet and assist you.

Co-commissioned by Devonshire Collective, Aspex Portsmouth, BACKLIT and Photoworks.

Supported by the Jenni Crain Foundation, The National Archives, the Paul Mellon Foundation and Arts Council England.

Visitor Information

Date: Saturday 19 September 2026

Time: 12:00 - 13:00

Location: Main Gallery, Second Floor

Address: BACKLIT, Alfred House, Ashley Street, Nottingham, NG3 1JG

More information about Tessa Boffin: Where We Touch the Archive

Tessa Boffin: Where We Touch the Archive is centred on the work and legacy of artist and activist Tessa Boffin (1960–1993).

Working across photography, writing, performance and activism, Boffin challenged dominant ideas of gender, sexuality and visibility, creating space for queer lives to be represented differently. Bringing her work into dialogue with new commissions by Sophie Mak-Schram and Leah McLaine, the exhibition approaches the archive not as a fixed record of the past, but as an energised and collective space shaped by what survives, what remains absent and what can be activated in the present.

The commissions have developed through extensive research within collections held by University for the Creative Arts Special Collections, the Estate of Tessa Boffin/The Gupta+Singh Archives and Hales, London and New York. Responding to Boffin’s images, pedagogy and politics, the new works extend the questions held within her archive rather than attempting to complete or resolve them.

Access Information

Step-free access: Available via Alfred Street and via a tarmac ramp to the lower ground floor and Project Gallery.

Lift access: Our staff-operated lift is currently accessible from Ashley Street only. If you require lift access, please email info@backlit.org.uk in advance or use the intercom when you arrive so that a member of staff can assist you.

Accessible parking: Limited parking is available by arrangement. To book parking, please call 0115 837 2426 or email info@backlit.org.uk.

Toilets: All toilets are gender neutral. Please note that none currently have wide-access doors, although we are actively working to improve this next year.

Assistance dogs: Guide and hearing dogs are welcome throughout the building.

Need more information? If you have any questions or access requirements before your visit, please get in touch—we're happy to help.

Description supplied by the event organiser.