This exhibition celebrated the collaboration between two typographic forces: Alan Kitching, a leading practitioner in letterpress, typography and design; and Monotype, global trailblazers in type and home to some of the world’s most popular typefaces.
The exhibition featured the Alan Kitching Collection which celebrated the lives of five very influential graphic designers: Tom Eckersley, Abram Games, FHK Henrion, Josef Müller-Brockmann, and Paul Rand.
The show revealed the process behind the making of the Collection; following Alan’s journey from research and sketches, through the Monotype archive, to Alan’s workshop and the finished printed pieces.
#NTUAlanKitching #Monotype
During the exhibition, students at Nottingham Trent University and visitors of the exhibition were invited to design their very own personalised monogram to be in with a chance of winning a limited edition print from the Alan Kitching Collection. The rules were simple; the monogram had to:
1) include your own initials
2) use one letter from the typefaces used in the Alan Kitching Collection. The subsequent letters could come from anywhere: another typeface, hand-drawn, a found letter…
3) be rendered in a way that it tells us something about the designer.
Entries were then uploaded with the hashtag #NTUmonogram to Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
The competition ended on Sunday 18 October 2015, and the winner (selected by Alan Kitching himself) was announced on Thursday 22 October.
Read all about the winning entry and the runners-up in this story on our blog.
To find out more, read the full competition details.
The coronavirus pandemic is still far from over in many parts of the world, including Guatemala where artisanal textile making remains a significant aspect of indigenous Maya cultural heritage and the creative economy. This small collection of artefacts, images and narratives convey findings from recent research into: ‘how Guatemalan artisans diversified their textile practices to sustain their communities during the Covid-19 pandemic’.
Our ethnographic enquiry, undertaken in 2021, was made possible through collaboration with five socially driven textile organisations working in the Lake Atitlan area; A Rum Fellow, Cojolya, Mercado Global, Multicolores, and Kakaw Designs. Analysis of online interviews, videos and photographs taken in the field, provide insights into the creative resilience of artisans as they continued to practice, communicate and market their crafts, throughout the global crisis.
The title Story Cloth derives from Multicolores, who encouraged the artists they work with to embroider ‘my life during the quarantine’, as a reflection on the personal impact of the pandemic. Examples of these embroidered vignettes are featured alongside dolls, woven and dyed (buy-one-give-one) PPE masks, fashion and interior textiles, and rugs made from recycled paca (second-hand clothing).
The exhibition also features ‘Connecting with Your Roots’, a scholarship programme funded by Ibermuseums for The Ixchel Museum of Indigenous Textiles and Clothing, enabling 30 women and girls from Maya groups in Guatemala City to reconnect with their weaving arts heritage. The project is represented in images and a vintage huipil (blouse) the most prevalent form of traje (traditional clothing) worn by Mayan women. Woven on a backstrap loom, the huipil incorporates colours, patterns and motifs symbolizing nature, religious and community affiliation.
Story Cloth is an outcome of ongoing research into the sustainable potential for integrating digital technology into artisanal business models, supported by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and Quality-Related (QR) funding, Nottingham Trent University.
Header photo: Maria Sacalxot Coti rug hooking. Photo by Joe Coca courtesy of Multicores
Katherine Townsend, Nottingham Trent University
Anna Piper, Sheffield Hallam University
Luciana Jabur, Friends of The Ixchel Museum
Friends of the Ixchel Museum
Museo Ixchel del Traje Indígena (Ixchel Museum of Indigenous Dress)
A Rum Fellow
Cojolya
Kakaw Designs
Mercado Global
Multicolores
A joint exhibition by photographer Chris Barrett and researcher Gianluca Spezza
Under Kim Jong Un’s leadership, North Korea has made a conscious decision to be more proactive in the media world. In 2013 we saw the very first live tweeted image of the North Korean leader, from mainstream Western media.
Icons of Rhetoric (IoR) offered a different approach to documenting North Korea, merging established news media practices with more contemporary ones, drawing particular attention to social media.
“While researching an article about an Instagram account claiming to be the official outlet of North Korean news, I started to think about the visual representation of North Korea.
Chris Barrett, photographer and curator
The idea of the project became a reflection on our engagement with modern media techniques, our consumption of images and our knowledge of this ‘most closed off country in the world’ that is the DPRK, all this interwoven with the notion of democratized propaganda.”
By reinterpreting images that already exist in the public domain, Icons of Rhetoric played on an aesthetic of authenticity.
Read more about the Icons of Rhetoric research project.
Follow #IconsofRhetoric on social media:
@IconsofRhetoric
@KazakhPilot (Gianluca Spezza)
facebook.com/IconsOfRhetoric
instagram.com/iconsofrhetoric
The title Soft Painting aims to draw our attention to the actual physical qualities of a painting rather than acting as an introduction to an image or to suggest a narrative. Simon Callery creates paintings that communicate on a physical level. A painting can be soft or hard as much as it can be red or green.
From Monday 13 – Wednesday 29 April Simon worked in the gallery space with a selected group of Nottingham Trent BA (Hons) Fine Art students and Nottingham-based artists, to produce three large-scale works. Rolls of canvas were washed and prepared for saturation in pigmented distempers – a process where the industrial starch is removed from the canvas and the dense and highly coloured medium is washed into the softened fabric at high temperature. These worked canvasses were then hung off frames to dry before being cut up, sorted and sewn into the formal configurations of soft paintings.
From Thursday 30 April – Friday 15 May the Gallery took the form of a contemporary gallery space, where the outcomes of the making process were realised in a final staged exhibition.
We caught up with Simon at his London-based studio for a behind the scenes look at his collection and to view his work in progress:
For the duration of this exhibition the Gallery became a space for learning where the connections between the making, installing and exhibition of artwork were exposed. The public were invited to witness and engage with the entire process.
Participants shared their images on Instagram using the hashtag #SoftPainting, you can read more about how the project evolved on our Latest News page.
#MADEINWOOD
Made in Wood was a collaborative exhibition and research event between staff and Architecture students from Nottingham Trent University and Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Norway (KHiB).
The exhibition formed out of discussions with KHiB in relation to the annual Bergen International Wood Festival.
Taking inspiration from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, the students addressed how global cities seem to challenge the laws of gravity, with soaring skyscrapers that compete to reach imposing heights.
Watch the video above to see the city of wood take form in the Gallery.
The Gallery was split into three distinctive districts overlooked by a bridge; each district depicted a different interpretation of a city scape.
Built to overlook the city, the bridge provided a focal point from all areas. An atmosphere of power and superiority was portrayed, contrasting with the ghetto below.
Situated to the left of the bridge, this district represented the need for housing in built-up areas; how nationalities come together to build communities out of whatever can be found. A tight, enclosed atmosphere was created by the narrow spaces and multiple routes through the district.
As you looked to the right of the bridge this area was built to represent the historical industrial background of both Nottingham and Bergen and many cities around the world. It portrayed a ‘gritty’ atmosphere that was present before modern technology took over.
Placed at the rear of the Gallery, this district represented the growth of the modern city and how lighting from it can impact on surrounding areas. It drew particular attention to how imposing modern structures can be. The lighting creates a spiritual atmosphere and futuristic feel, acting as a beacon for all in the city.
Download a copy of the Made in Wood student brief
The wood used in this exhibition was kindly donated by John A. Stephens of Lady Bay, Nottingham.
For the duration of the Made in Wood exhibition we handed over our Instagram account to the students from Bergen and NTU, for them to create a visual diary of their experience. Check out their story on the Bonington Gallery Instagram feed.
Click here to download the exhibition handout
Returns formed part of an on-going collaboration between Nottingham Trent University and Sheffield Hallam University (SHU). Established in 2012, it developed out of an International Research Project titled Topographies of the Obsolete, set up by Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Norway; and focused on the disused ceramics factory in Stoke-on-Trent, Spode Works.
The aim of the research was to deepen and develop our understanding of the post-industrial landscape with specific reference to the industrial ruin. Through a series of residencies and workshops, a cross-disciplinary group of artists and researchers from a range of international art institutions set out to explore the socio-economic histories, industrial architecture and production remains of the former Spode Works. The results of the research were exhibited and published during the British Ceramics Biennial in September 2013 and Seconds, in the Lace Market Gallery in March 2014.
The exhibition at Bonington Gallery was the first showing of the newly generated outcomes, with a subsequent exhibition taking place at Sheffield Hallam SIA Gallery in Winter 2016. Each exhibition showed a new development from the work previously exhibited, demonstrating the progression of the research.
The exhibition brought together artistic research from NTU:
Andrew Brown, Joanne Lee, Danica Maier, Debra Swann, and Chloë Brown from SHU.
Recent fine art graduates who participated in the original Spode project were in residence during the exhibition, from NTU:
Ciaran Harrington, and Christine Stevens.
Throughout the Returns exhibition, researchers from the project led a series of discussion workshops. Each session was intended for a small group of invited speakers and participants who considered a specific area emerging from the concerns uncovered in Returns’ research through practice.
The discussions took the form of presentations, group conversations and practical activities. Their aim was to bring together professionals and practitioners to reflect upon three particular points of focus:
Digging through Dirt: Archaeology past, present, precious and unwanted
Wednesday 11 February, 1 pm – 2.15 pm
Artists will have your Ruin: Regeneration through the arts
Wednesday 18 February, 1 pm – 2.15 pm
Ruins of Craft: Lost art of making
Wednesday 25 February, 1 pm – 2.15 pm
Moving on from the success of Magic Light 2014, Lighting the Future: No Boundaries was an eclectic mix of lighting designs and installations by product and furniture design final year students and alumni from Nottingham Trent University.
All pieces within the show were representations of new and recently created designs, many of which push the boundaries of lighting, materials and design.
Alongside Lighting the Future: No Boundaries, and situated at the entrance of Nottingham Trent University’s Newton building, 170 was a ghostly montage of light inspired by images of the University at night.
Lighting the Future: No Boundaries was part of Nottingham Light Night 2015.
Download your copy of the official Light Night 2015 What’s On Guide
Crafting Anatomies placed the human body at the centre of a multi-disciplinary dialogue; exploring how this entity has been interpreted, crafted and reimagined in historical, contemporary and future contexts.
The exhibition dissected attitudes and approaches towards contexts of the body by showcasing visionary practices of leading international artists, clinicians and designers. These items were featured alongside anatomical exhibits selected from historical collections including films from The Wellcome Trust archive.
Organs crafted by silk worms, bespoke jewellery cultured from human skin cells, and couture garments constructed using plastic surgery cutting techniques were just some of the speculative projects that were on display.
43 practitioners in total took part, including, Shelly Goldsmith, Amy Congdon, Richard Arm, John Pacey-Lowrie, Juliana Sissons, Karen Ingham, Marloes ten Bhömer, The Human Harp Project, and many more.
A series of talks, demonstrations and workshops accompanied the exhibition, culminating in a symposium which highlighted the rigour in approaches to this subject by the individuals featured in the show.
This exhibition was curated by Amanda Briggs-Goode, Rhian Solomon and Katherine Townsend – members of the Creative Textiles Research Group at Nottingham Trent University.
Crafting prosthetic eyes
Wednesday 14 January 2015, 5 pm – 9 pm
As part of the Special Preview Event ocularist John Pacey-Lowrie gave a demonstration on how to craft prosthetic eyes. John has 35 years’ experience in bespoke ocular prosthetics. He is one of an extremely small group of talented practitioners who design, manufacture and hand-paint ocular prostheses.
Pattern cutting inspired by plastic surgery
Saturday 17 January 2015, 10 am – 3 pm
Surgical techniques in cloth to create simple garments with Juliana Sissons.
Crafting anatomies to train surgeons
Wednesday 21 January 2015, 3.30 pm – 4.30 pm
Composite material specialist Richard Arm talked about his groundbreaking project that simulates human hearts to train surgeons.
Friday 30 January 2015
This one day symposium explored the curious practices of a selection of Crafting Anatomies’ exhibitors, highlighting a preoccupation with the human condition in a breadth of exploratory contexts.
Enquiries
If you have any questions or enquiries about the Crafting Anatomies events listing please email craftinganatomies@ntu.ac.uk
UK DESIGN FOR PERFORMANCE 2011–2014
Society of British Theatre Designers (SBTD) in collaboration with the V&A Museum and Nottingham Trent University.
Make/Believe brought together an extraordinary range of contemporary designers and artists in performance to show a collection of new work – all made in the last four years. Revealing the ideas and processes behind visually arresting performance made by UK designers here and internationally.
The exhibition featured work that defines the edges of this art form; in industry and music festivals, large scale events such as the Olympics, Paralympics, community opera, found space and promenade performance, in digital, heritage and media contexts. It also gave praise to the intimate and highly valued work that designers are currently doing in education, health and various community settings.
Make/Believe at NTU was the first stop in a touring exhibition; selected works were subsequently shown at the Prague Quadrennial in June 2015, now currently on show at the V&A for nine months from July 2015, before moving on to festivals and venues throughout the UK from March 2016.
Click here to download the exhibition handout
A richly diverse collection of the futuristic and the retrospective: Knitting Nottingham challenged popular perceptions of knitting as cosy and nostalgic; showcasing creative design, art, technology and research across a wide range of knit-inspired work from internationally renowned designers, artists and researchers.
As part of Nottingham Trent University’s 170 Years of Art and Design event series, it celebrated the transformational role played by Nottingham in the growth of the knitting industry and knit technology, and provoked a serious question: how far can we stretch our ideas about knitting?
The message was don’t get comfortable; contrary to what we might think, the relationship between knitting and pushing the boundaries of technology is extremely close.
Stunning garments, 3D prints, performance footwear, knitted conductive textile technology, priceless historical artefacts, a tea set made from electro-plated knit, and working state-of-the-art knitting machinery were just some of the exhibits on show which demonstrated the innovative and challenging nature of knit today.
View a selection of images from the Knitting Nottingham exhibition by visiting the 170 years website.
As part of Nottingham Trent University’s celebration of 170 Years of Art and Design heritage, we supported BBC Radio Nottingham’s Big Poppy Knit in support of the Royal British Legion’s annual Poppy Appeal.
A commemorative poppy specially designed by Sir Paul Smith was on show during the exhibition.
Click here to download the exhibition handout
