In this exhibition, local heritage is echoed through whispers, dreams and refractions of light. Three emerging visual artists: Hannah Buckingham, Harry Payne, and James Wylie, delve into the archives of The Mary Rose, a sunken warship that has been resurfaced and is now preserved in a public museum. This experience has culminated in an exploration of kinetic and embodied approaches to heritage, interrogating how stories unravel depending on who they are held by, how they are preserved and to whom they are addressed.

By closely studying preserved objects in a museum setting, the artists have used that as inspiration to create new works that respond to ideas of intangible heritage, preservation, boundaries, sustainability, and embodiment. These intersect through and within boundaries that are formed and broken within the limitations of human handling, questioning whether heritage can ever be presented without transformation. In using new technologies, the artists have found ways to demystify heritage and the medium; making history more accessible and embodied, and presenting technology as a resource that is very much embedded in the natural world.

Through sensory-driven “memory installations” the artists animate collected histories; lost stories, secrets, and lingering messages, woven into objects that reimagine our relationship with the past. Engaging in new technologies, their practices revive archives with intimate, physical resonance, inviting audiences to feel heritage rather than simply observe it.

In Touch, In Ruin is the culmination of Resonate, a developmental programme produced and led by Thomas Buckley that supports Portsmouth-based artists in enhancing their technical skills and exploring the intersection of physical and digital realms within their practices.