Exhibition: RAFTS by Alistair Debling

Exhibitions, Free, In Person

Friday 20th March 6:00pm – Monday 25th May 2026 4:00pm

God's House Tower, Town Quay Road, Southampton, SO14 2NY

GHT is open Thursday to Sunday every week. Free admission.

RAFTS by Alistair Debling is a new exhibition commissioned by ‘a space’ arts for God’s House Tower. The exhibition draws together data-driven climate research from Dr. Gordon Inglis at the University of Southampton and people-driven research from creative workshops with Rose Road to ask: what if climate change were reframed as an access and care issue? The resulting multimedia installation will flood the main gallery space at GHT, offering new strategies for staying afloat in the face of disaster.

Launch Event

Join us as we celebrate the launch, RAFTS by Alistair Debling on Friday 20th March at 6pm. Admission is free and tickets are available here. 

Doors will open at 6pm and guests will be invited to grab a drink and explore the galleries. At 7pm, ‘a space’ arts Curator & Programme Manager Mia Delve, will introduce the exhibition and the artist, Alistair Debling will talk about the commission and the ideas behind the work.

This event is free to attend. If you’d like to donate, you can contribute what you feel. Any donation helps us keep events like this free and build a creative community at God’s House Tower. You can also support us by buying drinks and snacks at the bar.

About Alistair Debling

Alistair Debling makes films, photographs, performances, meals and installations. His work investigates diverse fields, from queer nightlife and ecology to militarism, agriculture and architecture.

Through sustained engagement with a particular community, he likes to discover unlikely connections between things: what does a nuclear power station have in common with a disco ball? A dairy cow with a canonised saint? A gay bar with a wild elephant? Recent projects have been commissioned and presented by Art Gene, Barrow-in-Furness; Jwllrs, Morecambe; the Grundy Gallery, Blackpool; Grizedale Arts, Cumbria. Recent screenings include HOME, Manchester; Providenza, Corsica; Copenhagen Architecture Festival, Denmark; Atelier WG, Netherlands.

About the Partners

  • Dr Gordon Inglis is a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow and Principal Research Fellow based in the School of Ocean and Earth Science at the University of Southampton. He studies climate-biogeochemistry interactions in past, present and future environments and specialises in the geochemical analysis of biomarkers (‘molecular fossils’).
  • Rose Road is a charity that provides a range of care services, including overnight short breaks, onsite and offsite outreach and day services, and telephone SEN advice services, for children and young people with complex disabilities and their families, across Southampton and surrounding areas.

Access and Quiet Spaces

The ground-floor bar and café at GHT have step-free access from Town Quay Road. For information on parking and travel, please visit our Plan your Visit page. The artwork for this exhibition is located in the Main Gallery and the Barker-Mill Project Space, both of which are accessible via lift. Quiet Hours: Every Thursday morning from 10am – 12pm, lights will be dimmed and sound levels lowered.

For the duration of this exhibition, the library will also be available as a quiet space. This space includes dimmed lighting, seating, quiet music, and water. You are welcome to use it at any time if you would like a break.

If you’d like to familiarise yourself with the venue before your visit, you can take a virtual tour of our spaces on our website. You’ll also find a visual story introducing members of the GHT team.

Click here to Plan Your Visit or take a Virtual Tour

 

Available soon:

  • Click here to read Shorter Version of the Exhibition text
  • Click here to read Glossary of Terms
  • Listen to audio version of the Exhibition Text
  • Listen to Audio Walk Through of this exhibition