University News Last updated 18 April 2018
Students from Birmingham School of Art and School of Visual Communication recently collaborated on DigiFest, a one-day exhibition at Vivid Projects in Digbeth, Birmingham.
DigiFest celebrated work from hi-tech, to lo-tech to no-tech. An open call was sent to all students in both Schools to submit proposals for the exhibition under each area. The curatorial committee made the decisions on selecting the student work according to the guidelines.
We were looking for artists, filmmakers, visual communicators, animators, performers, self-publishers – anyone working with digital technology in all of its guises. A lot of interest was shown from students and a wide variety of work was submitted. The work that was exhibited included videos, digital mapping, photographs, posters, sculptures, publications, illustrations and a performance.
Final year students in both Schools were approached to work together and curate the exhibition. Five students from each School volunteered and also gave an opportunity to a second year BA (Hons) Art and Design student who was looking to do work experience behind the scene and curate the exhibition. Two tutors who over looked the project were Gareth Proskourine-Barnett from Birmingham School of Art and Joanne Berry-Frith from School of Visual Communication.
A great addition to celebrating all things digital, an international speaker Professor Patrick Thomas, a graphic artist, author and educator, gave a talk during the exhibition and attracted a lot of interest from people interested in graphic design and illustration. He also interacted with students afterwards and provided feedback on their work.
The project gave students an opportunity to enhance their skills on project management, collaborative decision making, curating exhibition, marketing and documentation.
Written by: Zunaira Muzaffar, BA (Hons) Art and Design
