Image: Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth
Aspex Gallery in Portsmouth has launched '2126: What If?', an exhibition developed as part of Portsmouth 100 and centred on imagining the city a century from now. The show brings together newly commissioned work by María de la O Garrido, Alice Hume and Matt Westbrook, with photography, textiles, installation and collage used to explore possible futures for Portsmouth.
According to Aspex, the exhibition focuses on sustainability, community, technology and social change. Rather than presenting a fixed scenario, the project invites artists to think speculatively about how the city might evolve over the next 100 years. The gallery’s newsletter describes the exhibition as an opportunity to imagine Portsmouth in 2126 and to consider the city people live in now alongside the one they might shape together.
The exhibition sits within a broader summer programme at Aspex. Alongside '2126: What If?', the gallery is running COMMUNAL, a series of free events and workshops created by local artists and communities in response to the exhibition. The programme is framed as a space for conversation, collective making and creative responses to the exhibition’s future-facing themes.
Several COMMUNAL events are scheduled through August and early September. These include 'Adding Your Voices to Portsmouth’s Future' on 16 August, 'Gathering the Future - A Speculative Workshop' on 23 August, 'Greetings From Creepy Futures: Wish You Weren’t Here' on 26 August, 'Greetings From 2126: The Creepy Futures Auction' on 6 September and 'Growing What Works: Imagining the Future of Community Action in Portsmouth' on 9 September. Aspex says all COMMUNAL events are free to attend.
The gallery is also planning artist-led participation around the show. On selected Sundays during '2126: What If?', exhibiting artist Alice Hume will be in the gallery for meet-the-artist sessions, offering live weaving demonstrations on her Harris loom and discussing the materials and ideas behind her work. Those sessions are listed for 9 and 16 August, from 11am to 4pm, with free drop-in access.
'2126: What If?' runs until 6 September. Aspex describes the exhibition as part of its summer exhibition programme and Portsmouth 100 celebrations, and notes that the gallery is free to enter at the Vulcan Building in Gunwharf Quays.
