A Sea of Words for Portsmouth
Created in collaboration with internationally renowned Hong Kong artists Kingsley Ng and Stephanie Cheung
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
| START | : July 2025 |
| END | : October 2025 |
| EVENT CATEGORY | : Exhibition |
Rooted in Portsmouth’s maritime past, A Sea of Words for Portsmouth reflects life-changing journeys and amplifies hidden voices.
Hong Kong artists, Kingsley Ng and Stephanie Cheung transform everyday materials into poetic, sensory experiences, exploring themes of migration, belonging and connection. This project is an evolution of their earlier installation Over The Ocean, which premiered in Hong Kong in 2017. The participatory activity will begin in June 2025, when Kingsley and Stephanie will visit Portsmouth during Refugee Week and work with 432-Nomads to collect ocean-related stories from local communities. These will then be shaped into an immersive installation at Portsmouth Historic Quarter’s Boathouse 5 later in the year.
This site-responsive work builds on an artistic dialogue that began in Hong Kong, when our Artistic Director Rachel first connected with them through a UK / Hong Kong arts exchange trip. Their exploratory visit to the Solent region in 2023 further deepened the collaboration, as they engaged with local sites and histories to inform the project’s development. A Sea of Words for Portsmouth is part of the planned 432-Nomads Our Sanctuary: Ocean of Voices programme and the Portsmouth Creates In Our Words literacy celebration. It is being developed in partnership with 432-Nomads and Portsmouth Historic Quarter and in association with Portsmouth Creates, Portsmouth City Council, Aspex Portsmouth and the Sustainable Conservation Trust. This project forms part of Crying Out Loud’s Solent Cultural Collaborations and Solent Stories programmes.
Join us for a vibrant citywide celebration of culture, creativity, and community as Portsmouth marks Refugee Week 2025. Under this year’s national theme “Community as a Superpower”, events will explore the power of connection through art, music, storytelling, and food.
