An open call for queer & feminist responses to the legacy of Tessa Boffin
We are looking for applications from UK-based artists to respond to the life, work, and legacy of Tessa Boffin through two new artist commissions. The selected artists will create work to be featured in a national touring exhibition and will engage with communities across the UK through the accompanying public programme taking place across 2026–2027.
Tessa Boffin was a lesbian photographer, writer, editor and performance artist whose politically charged work challenged traditional narratives around gender and sexuality. Boffin’s archive — a rich resource of visual and pedagogical material spanning slides, video, magazine and newspaper cut outs and reference library of books* — speaks urgently to today’s queer and feminist movements which have historically (and risk continuing) to omit lesbian and gender non-conforming artists from archival and mainstream visual culture.
About the project
This exhibition and programme will:
- Engage with Tessa Boffin’s archive, held at The Gupta+Singh Archives and UCA Farnham
- Connect her legacy with contemporary LGBTQIA+ communities and younger generations
- Take place across three UK venues: Devonshire Collective (Eastbourne), BACKLIT (Nottingham) and Aspex (Portsmouth)
- Feature curated materials from Boffin’s estate, archival materials, and two new commissions
Curatorial approach
This project is grounded in a collective, intersectional approach to curatorial research, led by four emerging curators whose practices are rooted in queer and feminist frameworks: Polly Wright (Devonshire Collective, Eastbourne), Jazz Swali (Backlit, Nottingham), Ricardo Reverón Blanco (Aspex, Portsmouth), and Danit Ariel (Photoworks).
For us, collective practice is political. Inspired by Boffin’s activist spirit, we are building a curatorial framework that centres shared authorship and draws on lived experience to prioritise collaboration as a form of creative activism; one committed to honouring the artist’s legacy and working methodology.
Our research foregrounds Boffin’s role as an educator — through publishing, teaching, and activism — and her bold vision for transforming photography education. This focus offers a unique opportunity to curate pedagogical and locally grounded engagement programmes with LGBTQIA+ communities across the UK. We will invite and support the selected artists to contribute ideas to the public programme, as relevant.
Through this intergenerational touring exhibition and its wider public programme, we aim to reactivate Boffin’s archive as a living resource and conversation with the artists and audiences.
About the commissions
We are offering two paid commissions for artists to develop new work that responds to any aspect of Tessa Boffin’s practice — her images, writing, pedagogy, politics, or activism.
Selected artists will receive:
- A commission fee of £2000
- A research budget of £500 (travel, accommodation, subsistence)
- A production budget (to be discussed with the selected artists)
- Research support, including a supported visit to the archive at UCA Farnham and session with The Gupta+Singh Archives
- Curatorial guidance
- Inclusion in the national touring exhibition alongside Boffin’s work.
- Opportunities to be part of the wider public engagement programme.
We welcome proposals from artists working across all disciplines — especially photography, moving image, performance, writing and social practice — with a focus on experimental or politically engaged approaches.
Who can apply
We are particularly looking to work with UK based-artists who identify as LGBTQIA+, and whose practices are informed by queer, feminist, and politically engaged approaches.
We are interested in artists who are already exploring themes of activism, resistance, community, and care — those who can clearly demonstrate a commitment to these ideas in their work, not just conceptually but in how they create, collaborate, and connect.
We’re aware of the scale of the commission and are therefore imagining this opportunity will be most relevant for artists who already hold a strong affinity with the project’s ethos, and who may wish to build on existing research or works-in-progress, rather than begin something entirely from scratch.
How to apply
To apply please click on Apply now and fill out the application form by 5pm, 22 October 2025. The Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form is optional to fill out, and if you wish to help us understand who we are reaching and where we can improve access and representation please fill this out and email it to info@photoworks.org.uk.
Accessibility
If you have any specific requirements or need additional support during the recruitment process, including anything you might need should you get called for interview (e.g. interpreters, information in different formats etc.), or would like to discuss any aspect of the role in confidence, please contact polly@devonshirecollective.co.uk.
Please note, any information you provide around your access requirements for interview will not form part of the shortlisting process.
Should your application be successful, as part of our commitment to making our working environment as accessible and supportive as we can, we will invite you to create an Access Statement to use as a basis to explore reasonable adjustments and flexible arrangements, if this is relevant to you.
There is an access budget available for the project, separate to the project budget.
Interview process
Interviews will take place online in the week of 26 October 2025 with the curatorial team and Sunil Gupta.
Selection panel
- Danit Ariel, Photoworks
- Ricardo Reverón Blanco, Aspex, Portsmouth
- Jazz Swali, Backlit, Nottingham
- Polly Wright, Devonshire Collective, Eastbourne
Touring Venues
Devonshire Collective, Eastbourne (18 July – September 2026)
Devonshire Collective a cultural and community organisation with national ambition with a grassroots ethos: commissioning significant first solo exhibition and public realm visual arts projects by emerging, underrepresented UK artists that attune to national debates and speak to the lived experiences of our local communities. Their upcoming programme is connected by a vision that centres artistic practice and focuses on co-creation and socially engaged research methods.
BACKLIT, Nottingham, (October – November 2026)
Founded in 2008 as an artist-led space by Nottingham graduates, BACKLIT has evolved into an internationally renowned independent public gallery and cultural organisation. Housed in a historic Victorian building Est. 1872, the galleries feature across three floors, alongside creative studios. BACKLIT is home to over 120 artists, collectives, and associate members.
Aspex, Portsmouth (December 2026 – March 2027)
Aspex is a charity cultivating art and creativity, rooted in community. Aspex believe that in bringing joy, art broadens minds, facilitates learning, connects and nurtures our communities and stimulates radical imagining.
Archives and Collections
University of the Creative Arts Archives & Special Collections
Tessa Boffin was a lecturer in the photography department of the University of Creative Arts until her death in 1992. As a photographer and performance artist she developed her artistic practice around LGBT, gay and lesbian culture and produced work in response to HIV/AIDS. The Tessa Boffin Archive contains her private collection of photographs, books, postcards, images, teaching and her research notes.
A touring exhibition project co-commissioned by Devonshire Collective, aspex, BACKLIT and Photoworks. Supported by Jenni Crain Foundation, an initiative dedicated to preserving the legacy of the esteemed artist and curator; The National Archives and Arts Council England. With thanks to The estate of Tessa Boffin/The Gupta+Singh Archives and Hales, London and New York and University for the Creative Arts Special Collections.
