For the second year running, Griffin Gallery hosted an Engine ChatChat residency exclusively for UAL’s Postgraduate Community.

By Naira Mushtaq, PG Community Ambassador for Central Saint Martins studying MA Fine Art.

These sessions were mediated by artist Elizabeth Murton and hosted by Griffin Gallery, against the backdrop of Godley House, a site responsive show that was both informal and stimulating, with constructive conversation encouraged.

Bringing together a group of 8 artists from different stages of their practice under one roof. 7 of which were UAL students and alumni, creating an energetic mix of different disciplines from sculpture to film, painting and installation.

In each session, selected artists presented their work to rest of the group, followed by a discussion about their practice.

Griffin Gallery provided a safe space for the artists to share their work in a supportive environment as well as being honest and critical to each other’s practice. For some of the artists, these sessions proved to be a good instigator to encourage them to fall back into their practice after being out of institutional setting while the current students benefited from a different perspective than that offered on their courses, receiving valuable advice, support and encouragement.

Perhaps the most interesting element of these sessions was seeing the overlapping concerns in these variant practices, as best said by Elizabeth Murton during the closing notes of the sessions, who defines what art is, as artists are self-defining and they will always find expression in different ways.

By Laetitia Forst PhD Circular Textiles and Cathryn Anneka Hall MA Textiles Design

– both at Chelsea College of Arts

There and Back Again was an event hosted by UAL Centre for Circular Design (CCD) in March 2018, funded by the UAL Postgraduate Community Project Fund and the CCW Graduate School Student Initiative Fund. The two day event comprising of a series of talks and workshops explored the potential of design for end-of-life for products and materials through multiple perspectives. There and Back Again, although centred around the theme of end-of-life materials was an opportunity for the some of the major projects at the Centre for Circular Design to be presented to the wider research community at UAL and beyond. This started conversation on materials, models and mindsets for design in the circular economy.

Hannah Pratt and Becky Lyon (MA Art and Science, CSM) in collaboration with Lumen, invite exhibition proposals from current UAL postgraduate students to a group show including external artists at Ugly Duck, 24-27 May 2018.

Alongside the exhibition, there will be talks, workshops and a film night.
Open call closes: 31 March 2018

Image courtesy of Lumen

By Naira Mushtaq, PG Community Ambassador for

Central Saint Martins studying MA Fine Art

The day that started out as a beautiful warm and sunny later shifting into a grey and overcast one with a hailstorm which couldn’t possibly have been more fitting background for the evening of the UAL Postgraduate Community Pop up Common Room event at the Nunnery Gallery, Bow Arts.

The exhibition Art for the Environment curated by UAL Centre for Sustainable Fashion‘s  Camilla Palestra, brings together works of six artists (and UAL postgraduate alumni) whose practices explore human impact on our environment.

The UAL Art for the Environment International Residency Programme (AER) was Established in 2015, by UAL Professor for Art for the Environment Lucy Orta, the aim of the program is to provide valuable space and time to emerging artists to engage and explore themes of environment and our relationship with nature.

This exhibition Art for Environment presented a selection of work curated from past AER residencies, including film, sound and interactive installation. The event included the tour of the show by Camilla Palestra amongst the attendees were two of the participating artists Magz Hall and Nana Maiolini, along with the current resident Clemence Hemard-Hermitant and the AER 2018 recipient Helen Cawley.