Students in all of the courses enjoy opportunities to connect with industry through exhibitions, showcases and competitions in other cities. For example, BA (Hons) Textile Design students use Premiere Vision in Paris and New Designers in London to gain international exposure and profitable networking opportunities. Previously BA (Hons) Games Art and Design students visited Scotland for Dare to Be Digital, and they take part in the Brains Eden Gaming Festival, one of the UK’s highest profile events.

London acts as a major hub, of course. This year a number of courses will enjoy London showcases before the Degree Shows and Degree Show Screenings in Norwich. Being only two hours by rail makes it easy for BA (Hons) Animation and BA (Hons) Film and Moving Image Production students to visit major studios; for BA (Hons) Fashion students to dress the catwalk at Graduate Fashion Week with their final collections; and to permit graphics students time to wow audiences at the D&AD New Blood Exhibition. Of the latter, Graphics Course Leader Martin Schooley explains:

“The exhibition aims to put the best emerging creative talent face to face with industry…We take three stands, one for each of our graphics-related courses…over the three day exhibition students meet many industry guests,

exchange contact details and gain valuable feed-back on their graduate work. Students frequently make contacts that lead to graduate internships.”

Being connected also facilitates study trips to Europe and North America. In 2015, for example, BA (Hons) Illustration students visited studios in New York City and BA (Hons) Architecture students investigated important modernist buildings in Spain and Portugal.

While the city is geographically well positioned to access cultural events, learning opportunities and industry exposure, it’s also a sturdy jumping off point. An abundance of high quality, reasonably priced accommodation allows students to maintain a good standard of living during their studies. As Norwich is a small city, students tend to have quite low commuting costs, which leaves scope for travel.

Many students are also able to support themselves through part-time student-friendly jobs. Most importantly, Norwich is the kind of place where they can take their creative and professional futures into their own hands through self-initiated collaborations, public exhibitions and participatory events in the city’s many low-cost galleries, cafes, market stalls, pop-up venues and even the streets of the city.

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When we meet prospective students we often talk about how well connected Norwich is to the rest of the UK and to major airports servicing cities all over the world. But being connected isn’t just about easy access to other places. It’s about being a home base offering security, comfort and affordability to allow students to benefit from being near those places and all that they offer.

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Video Cube (2015), flat screen monitor sculpture, by Henry Driver

How did early experiences sharing work in Norwich affect your practice?

It was through these early, positive experiences that I gained confidence in my work, exhibiting it and demonstrating professionalism. This confidence allowed me to not feel out my depth when submitting work to international opens calls. The piece I showed at that Savorr event, for example, went on to be shown in Berlin, Sydney, Melbourne and broadcast in nearly 40 countries. If I hadn’t gained the confidence to submit my work this may never have happened.

Describe your work and practice now -

I am fascinated by the speed at which digital and virtual worlds are developing, their increasing domination of our lives and the issues this raises. As the boundaries between physical and digital dissolve, a number of questions arise about where the digital world ends and the physical begins. It is the questioning, demonstrating and blurring of this line that my work investigates.

Currently I am creating multiple video/projection installations for a project called Phantom at Firstsite (where I am the guest visual artist), and I’m preparing screenings for FACT in Liverpool, Whitechapel Gallery in London and MPavilion in Melbourne.

Did living in Norwich contribute to your early success?

I have had tremendous support from galleries and venues within the region, which has allowed me to expand my presence across the UK and internationally. Galleries such as Firstsite, Wysing

Arts Centre, Smiths Row and the Sainsbury Centre of Visuals Arts not only put on fantastic shows but they offer great opportunities for emerging and developing artists.

Norwich is increasingly known for its visual arts community outside of the region, but what is it like to live and exhibit locally?

Norwich manages to have all the benefits of a city without many of the downsides. There’s a lot going on but it isn’t expensive to live here. There are loads of studios and places to exhibit, and the large student community means that if you promote and advertise an event well you can really pack out private views!

What was it like to take part in the London exhibition Free Range this year?

It’s a real plus for students to showcase their work in London and at an exhibition with such a large audience! I think it is important for all students to take part in as many exhibitions outside of the city where they are based as they can.

www.henrydriverartist.com | www.savorr.co.uk

www.free-range.org.uk

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By the time Henry Driver completed the BA (Hons) Fine Art course he had exhibited his work nationally and internationally using opportunities he found through the professional and creative networks in and around Norwich. Norwich’s links in and beyond the UK and the city’s manageability – easygoing and affordable for accommodation and living expenses – meant that he could maintain a productive and creative lifestyle that would ultimately facilitate his early success.

HENRY DRIVER

What were your expectations when you came to study Fine Art at NUA

During my Foundation year I set high expectations and desires for the development of my practice, but it wasn’t until I joined NUA that I created work that met those expectations. Then I was able to push my ambitions even further.

When did you first exhibit your work and what was that experience like?

At the end of my first term I was selected to exhibit with Savorr, an artist-led organisation that puts on an exciting programme of arts events. I really enjoyed the experience and the private view is still one of my favourites. The atmosphere was really open and friendly, and I had many thoughtful conversations with visitors regarding my work. I felt welcomed into the arts scene. Savorr invited me to join their group after exhibiting again at their next event. So looking back on it, it was a fantastic early experience!

Students exhibit work in the city’s many micro-galleries. Is that a distinct feature of the scene here?

There are a good number of spaces available to hire throughout Norwich that students make use of. There has also been an influx of studio space recently. However, there is still room for more galleries. That is one of the positives about Norwich: there is still a lot space for people to do things and open things. I really would encourage people to engage. It’s through the continuous creation of spaces/collectives that the scene continues to flourish.

Drift (2014), film, by Henry Driver and Rebecca Liles

westBA (Hons) Fine Art Course Leader Carl Rowe in China

This year I attended IMPACT 9 to exhibit East/West, a portfolio of prints made by students and staff from the BA and MA Fine Art courses at Norwich University of the Arts. IMPACT is the largest and most influential printmaking conference in the world, bringing together delegates from all continents for a five-day bonanza of exhibitions, academic papers, illustrated talks and workshops, as well as a trade fair and networking events. This year it is being hosted at China Academy of Arts (CAA) in Hangzhou.

Our portfolio project East/West has been conceived specifically in response to the geographic location of IMPACT this year. We invited students and staff from Falmouth University to collaborate (in the past we have invited Boston University, Asagaya College of Art Tokyo and California State University). The simple concept being the extreme of easterly and westerly locations of the two universities – Norwich in the east of the UK and Falmouth in the west. The project was proposed to the IMPACT selection committee underlining the conceptual cadence of showing this European project in the Far East.

Day 1 19.09.15

Without a doubt, international air travel engenders a surreal state of being - simultaneously everywhere and nowhere in particular. Sleep disruption and skipped time zones account for much of this dislocation. Moreover, it is the ubiquitous nature of airports that does much to erase any sense of continuity or cultural identity. Global locations flickering on departure boards, announcements, multitudinous languages - these things reinforce the timeless, placeless temporary envelope of existence. Add to that the atlas of food outlets such as sushi bars, Italian baristas, Irish pubs and Vietnamese street food. And then there’s Burberry, Versace, Out of Africa, Tommy Hilfiger, Hello Kitty...

Day 2 (the same day)

Like much of the eastern coast of China, Hangzhou is developing and expanding with palpable urgency. On arrival in Hangzhou city centre, the individual sounds of hurried movement meld into one overall metropolitan chord. From my hotel room I can catch glimpses of the West Lake, a cooling calming buffer to the city and one of the reasons why Hangzhou has become so favoured as a place for Chinese people to take a holiday. It is Saturday night and Hangzhou is jam-packed. I am tired and still stuck in a time zone elsewhere…

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NUA student work included in the print portfolio East/West (2015), presented at IMPACT 9

Day 3 20.09.15

After a breakfast of steamed fish-balls, straw potatoes, greens cooked with shrimps and assorted pickles, I get a taxi for China Academy of Arts (CCA). The CCA is an impressive complex with a stunning entrance. I am greeted by some of the students studying printmaking, who demonstrate an inexhaustible enthusiasm and desire to be of assistance. They lead me to the Henglu Art Museum, the venue for East/West, and after a little uncertainty about which space is allocated for the show, I eventually set down my long travelled portfolio box and tools ready to install. Aided by the students assigned the task of assisting delegates, the plan unfolds, and my system of wide pins and devilishly powerful miniature magnets works. With surprising speed, we get most of the prints neatly affixed to the wall in time for lunch. The students invite me to the place where they all eat, a small unfussy noodle bar just a stone’s throw from CAA. Conversation is impeded by language difference, of course (I can only say hello and thank you in Mandarin). Remarkably, we manage somehow to talk about contemporary art, English food, post-punk and indie music, fashion and Norwich. After lunch, we finish the installation of the work…

Day 4 21.09.15

There is a little time before registration starts, so I detour by literally crossing the road to visit the Temple of King Qian. It costs the equivalent of £1.50 to walk among the tranquil gardens of bamboo, gingko and pomelo trees. The large wooden statues of Buddha are impressive and so are the temple buildings with pitched, tiled roofs. IMPACT 9 conference title is Print in the Post-Print Age. I can’t help but sense the irony, when I am issued with two tote bags full of exquisitely produced printed catalogues, comprehensively covering every aspect of the conference.

Late afternoon a number of delegates – myself included – take a 30-minute coach ride to the fringe of the city to view an exhibition of contemporary colour woodblock prints by the artist Wang Chao. At first glance there is nothing to indicate that these works are from this century, indeed they could be prints from the Chinese translation of the Diamond Sūtra printed in 401 CE. On closer inspection, depictions of US stealth bombers, army personnel and airmail envelopes emerge. The technical skill has to be admired, because although these images look like pencil lines, they are actually cut from hard wood – the fine lines left raised. Moreover, I think it is the contemporising of a traditional process that brings these works to the forefront, through provocative cultural and post-colonial references.…You know, when you are told there will be food at a preview, you should always ask how much. I walk back from CAA with one little scented cake thing in my stomach.

Day 5 22.09.15

IMPACT 9 opens officially with keynote speeches…The essence of these opening addresses centred on the influence that the digital has on the continued viability of traditional print. There were merits in all four speeches, but one thing in particular stuck in my mind: an example of a surgical application for 3D printing mentioned in Carinna Parraman’s talk. MRI scans of children’s brains are rendered using a 3D printer in order that neurosurgeons can rehearse surgical procedures with their teams prior to operating on the patient.

At the conclusion of the keynote speeches, and after group photos, a fleet of coaches shipped us away from the CAA Nanshan city campus and took us to the more rural (city fringes at least) Xiangshan campus…The Xiangshan campus hosts a crafts museum with collections of vernacular furniture, screens, pottery, tools and a fascinating display of shadow

puppets. The campus also has a Bauhaus Research Institute and Gallery, which represents one of the most complete collections of original Bauhaus artefacts I am aware of outside Germany.

Back to Nanshan campus and to the official opening of IMPACT…the welcoming banquet is declared open and we all jostle and shuffle to the CAA Gymnasium, where a table groans with an array of food. I make mistakes - choosing spider crabs’ legs cooked in chili, which burst and splatter their contents all over the table, followed by prawns that repeat the embarrassment. And then, as if possessed by some malevolence, a pear does exactly the same…a pear I ask you!

Day 6 23.09.15

After gazing for a few minutes at rivulets of water meandering down the window, I am thoughtful of home and family and autumn and Marmite.

The day is spent between viewing the numerous exhibitions (eager not to miss anything) and attending academic papers and themes panels…Somewhere in between seeing all of these exhibitions today, I managed to visit the printmaking studios. They are underground, the only facility on the entire Nanshan campus that is in a basement. And as I descend the concrete stairs to reach the main entrance, I understand why. Above the door there is a sign in both Mandarin and English ‘Air Defence Basement,’ and a schematic of a person entering at speed. The doors are massively thick steel with heavy rubber seals. It is a remnant of the growing tension between China and Soviet Union in the 1970s, which underlines how the proliferation of arms is in nobody’s interest.

I advance into what thankfully looks reassuringly like a printmaking studio and take in the vastness of this provision. There are several large rooms accommodating undergraduates and postgraduates, each with their

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own set of presses and associated processing areas. Not surprisingly, the postgraduates get slightly better equipment, but it is all very generous. CAA supports woodcut and other relief processes (but not lino – there is no such thing in China), etching, lithography (stone and plate) and screen-printing (authographic and photographic). They use water-based screen inks but I notice all other processes and materials are traditional oil-based.

There is a special opening at the Henglu Gallery tonight, which is the gallery that East/West is being exhibited in. It is packed and I spend two hours talking to delegates about our project. Business cards are exchanged, potential collaborations sketched on imaginary cigarette packets, compliments reciprocated and all in all the evening is a wonderful thing.

Day 7 24.09.15

I have quite deliberately walked in eccentric routes around the city, to try to absorb it as best I can. First and foremost it is a friendly city and the people are very open and helpful. OK, I am not so sensitive that abruptness in a city, especially one as frenetic as Hangzhou, is going to offend. I expect that. But it really is friendlier than many other cities I could (but won’t) name.

Nanshan Road, which traces the perimeter of the West Lake, is an

ostentatiously wealthy part of the city, and when I say wealthy, we are talking Aston Martin, Rolls Royce and Lamborghini showrooms. The pavements smell of expensive perfume, the shop fronts glisten and by night the neon illuminated logos of global brands bleach out the night sky.

Over the road is the lake, which despite being corralled by paved walkways, is really very beautiful; hazed and limpid by day and at night the horizon is punctuated by twinkling lights far off on the other side. Cicadas rasp like overhead electricity cables and Asian Starlings catcall from the trees. At dusk there are numerous bats performing skilful mid-air maneuvers to catch evening insects.

Throughout the city, in between the high-rise and the confidently contemporary, there are little enclaves of old Hangzhou. Surrounded, engulfed and seemingly hiding from sight of the developer, these fragments fit like unruly Tetris blocks into the grid of steel and glass. There is washing hanging, bikes and scooters propped, children’s toys scattered, outside washbasins, banana trees and other vigorous growth, chairs, tables, flasks of tea. From these warm hearted places comes the smell of cooking and the sound of clattering woks, conversations and arguments, distorted radios, scooter alarms, chirping crickets

and shrilling mobile phones. I know I’m going over the top with the poetry, but it is so vivid and incredibly illustrative of humanity.

Day 8 25.09.15

I suppose there is a melancholy in the air as we shuffle to the main lecture theatre for the closing ceremony... There is gift giving and gentle applause. We all shuffle back out, a little weary but fulfilled. As I exit the lecture theatre, the students who helped me install East/West apprehend me and extend the warmest best wishes, which I exuberantly emphasise in return. This spontaneous gesture from the students exorcises the slightly flat feeling that I have and I leave CAA knowing that it has been really worthwhile, not simply for my benefit, but for students – NUA and CAA students.

Tomorrow I fly back to the UK. I want to get back home. Long-haul flights and hotel rooms do not agree with me. I am not looking forward to the flight back: the fake global miasma of airport lounges, the desiccating air and lack of legroom, the jet lag.

Read the full East/West diary and

see additional images of student

work and the event online.

www.nua.ac.uk/carl-rowe-diary

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Golden Shears Award

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BA (Hons) Fashion student Shahad Albeshr (right) on the catwalk during the Golden Shears Awards with a model wearing her garment

hunting the shortlisted candidates - which is really awesome.

How and where do you find inspiration?

I didn’t understand the method of researching fashion and really struggled to find inspiration. Now I quite like research. I appreciate everything around me and I think about every detail. Every day when I do anything I am constantly looking and I document everything I like, anything that’s interesting, to help me in the future when I’m looking for inspiration.

How do you make your decisions when you sit down to design something?

I learned from Kevin that it’s all about making mistakes. You have to experiment to find out what you like. Honestly, I always have an idea before I start my project. I know what I want to make, but I experiment with that. I put most of the experimentation on the ideas that I liked. For example, I noticed that in the nineteenth century men had many layers: shirt, waistcoat, jacket, greatcoat. I loved that idea, and I knew that I wanted my jacket to have many layers, but to be just one jacket. My jacket

is now a waistcoat attached to a jacket. Similarly they used to wear cravats, so I made the waistcoat a cravat - it’s all one piece with different colours in wool fabrics to highlight this idea. I experimented with the shoulders. I didn’t want it gathered because it’s already so busy with the checks on the fabric. I wanted it to have the styling of the nineteenth century and at the same time I wanted it to be simple. I was going to give up and go for gathering, but Kevin said ’Is that what you want?’ - I said no! - ‘Then don’t give up!’ I couldn’t give up until I found a solution to make a big sleeve without actually gathering it.

It’s not a simple jacket, there are lots of panels. It’s not just one piece on the back and two pieces on the front. There are four pieces on the back and four pieces on the front and two pieces on each of the shoulders. This took me triple the time it would take me to make another jacket. The lines are very accurate. I only left the studio when they kicked me out….

What about now, Shahad? Are you starting to think about what happens after graduation?

I always have a plan for the future. I always know what I want. I really want to run my own business. I’ve always wanted to do my own work. But I’d also like to be a lecturer. It’s really good to interact with students and learn from them. I love this. If you see me in class I love helping my friends and other students. I always get inspired by them as well. I’m also a PAL Mentor. Students come to me if they are struggling or have questions.

www.merchant-taylors.co.uk/ our-activities/golden-shears

www.facebook.com/

TheGoldenShearsAward

Was this competition one of your goals for your second year?

Kevin, one of our lecturers, then told us about the competition. I immediately knew I would go for it. Once I started I had a lot of stress trying to make everything perfect. The lining of the jacket I wanted to be perfect and even when buying materials I worked to make it perfect. I bought a real silk fabric for the lining and pure wool for the jacket. I had a really good opportunity when the company I bought the fabric from came to NUA. The other fabric I got in London.

A fabric company came to campus?

They came to talk about the fabric they make and they brought some products in case we were interested in buying them. I saw it and bought it. I always make decisions quickly.

Can that ever lead to mistakes?

But that is why I’m always learning a lot. Making decisions and trying new things allows you to improve yourself. You learn from mistakes.

Is that different from when you first started?

Exactly! Before I started studying fashion I tried to study science even though I didn’t like it. I tried it but it wasn’t the place for me. I belong in fashion. But I only knew that from trying.

How did you feel about the tailoring as a technical craft prior to the competition?

This is my strength. I love making. That is the reason why I got into fashion. I love to work with my hands. It’s all about being precise. All of that is why I love tailoring.

Where did you get ideas for your Golden Shears submission?

I went through the history of tailoring and found that although it started before the 19th century, it was really featured in that era. Then I looked at images of Mr. Beau Brummell: the dandy. I really liked his personality and how he was different. Everyone in that period would wear exaggerated clothes with makeup, but he was elegant and simple. Yeah, that’s my inspiration – the rise of the dandy.

And I like Karl Lagerfeld and the way he mixes contemporary ideas. That’s the idea of this project. It mixes history with a bit of creativity to make it exciting. My jacket: one side was longer than the other (it is asymmetrical), and I mix feminine and masculine stylings. These days unisex style is popular – it’s the contemporary thing. I tried to give history new life with contemporary ideas.

How is the competition judged?

It’s judged in two stages. In the first stage the finalists were selected by technical judges, mainly top tailors from Savile Row, but also Brigitte Stepputtis, Head of Couture at Vivienne Westwood. I was really happy about that.

What are they looking for in the second round of judging?

Style. The final judges include the model David Gandy, the actress Jodie Kidd, Designer Betty Jackson CBE and comedienne Jennifer Saunders and Lord Grade of Yarmouth. It is just a big deal to be shortlisted. I was looking at pictures of last year’s competition winners on Facebook and one of the comments was someone head

Golden Shears is an annual competition for people beginning a career in tailoring, both students and early–career professionals. In 2015 three NUA students were shortlisted. One of those chosen was BA Fashion student Shahad Albashr, who originally comes from Saudi Arabia. Shahad had the pleasure of seeing her work appear with the other candidates’ submissions at a gala event in London, including a catwalk show of shortlisted garments for the celebrity judges. Shahad didn’t win the coveted Golden Shears, but she benefited from experiencing the pressure and excitement of working in fashion – and the professional publicity.

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