UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 02 SEPTEMBER 2016
At the end of every academic year comes the highly anticipated Graduate Show, exhibiting the works of students across the University and providing a glimpse into the future of the industry. But this year, the MA Jewellery, Silversmithing and Related Products showcase has been taken to a “new level”.
The 2015/16 Graduate Show ‘Boundless Boundaries and Strange Attractors’, scheduled to take place between Saturday 3 September and Thursday 15 September, is the first Graduate Show to be hosted at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, “one of the most important museums in the Midlands if not further afield”.
Joining forces with Fine Art students
This year’s Show also ventures into previously unexplored areas with students from the MA Jewellery, Silversmithing and Related Products course joining forces with MA Fine Art students for the very first time, providing an interdisciplinary exhibition highlighting the affiliations with studio practice and making methods between the two specialisms. Professor Jivan Astfalck, Director of the MA in Jewellery, Silversmithing and Related Products said:
The public arena
The new venue for the show presents the first opportunity for students to showcase their work in a public arena, introducing a new dimension of opportunities and challenges. Professor Astfalck said:
“Through hosting the Graduate Show here, it really does take the exhibition to a new level in terms of professionalism and giving the students a real public place to reveal and launch their work. The designing, administration and project management of the Show has also been enhanced through our participation with the organisation. It will be great to get exposure to a larger, more public audience, which opens up many different possibilities for our students.”
A “perfect fit”
The combination of the museum’s existing collection, reputation and central location provides the “perfect fit” for the School of Jewellery and could potentially even attract a new audience. Professor Astfalck added:
“Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery holds a substantial collection, specifically for jewellery and silversmithing, which ties in really nicely with exhibiting our students’ work.
“This will hopefully open up a whole new audience for the School of Jewellery. With the location being prime City Centre it increases the likelihood of people discovering our work. Well-known events such as Heritage Week that runs during the same time as the exhibition will also enhance this. People that may not be intending on going to the Jewellery Quarter will be provided with a detailed insight into the fantastic work that our students do from a central location.”
As well as its presence in Birmingham’s City Centre, the Graduate Show is curated alongside the exhibition 'Strange Attractors', showing the final work of the Birmingham City University MA Fine Art programmes, which continues the exhibition from the Waterhall in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery across to the School of Art in Margaret Street.
To keep up to date with all of the latest information at the School of Jewellery, please follow @SoJ_BCU on Twitter. For more information on the Graduate Shows, visit the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery website.