In The Company of Land and Sea brings together three student-led projects developed through our FX Creative Together programme.

Shaped by collaboration with the environment and inspired by the FX Plus Archives and Special Collections, each project explores the ethics of caring in creative environmental practice. Whether mapping the journeys of stones, foraging Cornwall’s plant life, or capturing the fleeting life of tide pools, these works are made in conversation with land, sea, and species. The environment is not just subject matter, but a third collaborator—requiring respect, negotiation, and thoughtful engagement.

Throughout the process, the students have reflected on the challenges and joys of working together: seeing through unfamiliar perspectives, dismantling assumptions, and discovering new ways to explore novel ideas. The act of creating—thinking through making—has become as important as their finished works. This exhibition reveals traces of collecting, care, curiosity, and connection—between humans, materials, and the Cornish landscape.

The exhibition is taking place at the following locations:

• Environment and Sustainability Institute Creative Studio, Penryn Campus: Monday 7 July - Monday 11 August 2025

• FX Plus Library, Penryn Campus: Monday 18 August – Tuesday 30 September 2025

See Penryn Campus map

FX Creative Together Programme

Launched in 2023, FX Creative Together is a unique knowledge and skills exchange programme which celebrates the rich interdisciplinary environment of the Penryn campus, bringing together University of Exeter and Falmouth University students for a 40-hour paid creative internship throughout June.

This year three pairs of interns took inspiration from the varied material held in FX Archives and Special Collections at the Penryn campus.

The programme has been delivered by Arts and Culture, University of Exeter (Cornwall), and co-funded with the University of Exeter, Cornwall’s Department for Humanities and Social Sciences and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (DEES) on Penryn Campus.

With thanks to the Environmental Sustainability Institute and Penryn Campus Library Teams for hosting this exhibition.