The Avebury Papers – Southampton City Art Gallery

The Avebury Papers

13 June —17 October

The Avebury Papers is a four-year UKRI funded project to digitise, explore, and share the multimedia archive of Avebury’s Neolithic origins and ongoing investigation. To encourage creative reuse of the archive and inspire new stories, The Avebury Papers Project commissioned two artists, Gayle Chong Kwan and Kialy Tihngang to respond to the wealth of material making up the Avebury Papers.

 

 

Gayle Chong Kwan

Oneiric Archaeologies

Gayle Chong Kwan reimagines Avebury as a stone circle through which you are transported to surreal dream landscapes populated by collages, clay objects, tools, lidar scans, archaeological objects, and more-than-human encounters. She draws together historical and contemporary archaeological dreams about Avebury to reenact and reimagine the collective re-shaping of standing-stones since the Neolithic period.

Guided experiences of Oneiric Archaeologies will take place on 20 June, 18 July, 22 August and 19 September

Header image and above: Gayle Chong Kwan Oneiric Archaeologies 2025 © the artist

Kialy Tihngang

The Bluest Eye

Kialy Tihngang’s starting point is the theory that Avebury’s stone circles were built to commemorate the domestic dwelling of a group of early farmers who migrated to southern England some 5,800 years ago. These people risked their lives, crossing the channel and bringing skills to enrich the country. Drawing upon notions of the circle and the ripple, alongside the materiality of sediments and standing stones, she visualises the hopes, experiences and challenges encountered by new peoples and ideas arriving in Britain.

 

Image: Kialy Tihngang, The Bluest Eye (still), 2025 © the artist

Art Talks

In Conversation with Dr Gayle Chong Kwan, Kialy Tihngang and Dr Fran Allfrey

Saturday 13 June 2026
2pm – 3pm

Click here to book your place

Performance Lecture with Kialy Tihngang

Saturday 3 October 2026
2pm – 3pm

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History Talks

Online Talk: Excavating Avebury with Professor Mark Gillings and Professor Josh Pollard

Wednesday 24 June 2026
7:30pm – 8:30pm

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Avebury Papers Talk – OGS Crawford and His Legacy in Southampton Talk with Jo Wren

Wednesday 8 July 2026
11am – 12noon

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Avebury Papers Talk: Avebury and World-building

Saturday 19 September 2026
11am – 12noon

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Avebury Papers Archaeology Study Day

Saturday 10 October 2026
10am – 3.30pm

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XR Experience

Avebury Papers – Solstice Activity Day FREE EVENT

Saturday 20 June 2026
11am – 3pm

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Oneiric Archaeologies XR Experience: FREE EVENT

Saturday 18 July 2026
11am – 3pm

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Oneiric Archaeologies XR Experience: FREE EVENT

Saturday 22 August 2026
11am – 3pm

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Oneiric Archaeologies XR Experience: FREE EVENT

Saturday 19 September 2026
11am – 3pm

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Community Days

THE AVEBURY PAPERS – CLAY SPIRAL LABYRINTH WORKSHOP: FREE EVENT with Lucie Smith

Saturday 18 July 2026
10am – 1pm

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THE AVEBURY PAPERS – FAE AND FOLK OF AVEBURY: FREE ART AND WRITING EVENT with Lucie Smith

Saturday 8 August 2026
11am – 3pm

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Art Schools

Art School Plus: Exploring Avebury (11-16 years) FREE COURSE

Thursday 20 August 2026
10.30am – 3.30pm

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Junior Art School: Exploring Avebury (7-13yrs) FREE COURSE

Friday 21 August 2026
10.30am – 3.30pm

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