School/Directorate: Cardiff School of Art and Design
Key Theme: Links directly to support the University’s sanctuary status; Global element of Cardiff Met EDGE.
Impact and Achievements:
The initiative built on an existing collaborative relationship between CSAD and LNAA in Lviv, Ukraine. 9 students from LNAA and 9 students from CSAD worked on a creative response to the theme ‘Sanctuary’. Students had discussions in groups and pairs via MS Teams about the theme and their ideas to visualise it. The CSAD students attended a one-day Risograph workshop at Printhaus in Chapter Arts Centre and the artworks were subsequently printed. The prints were exhibited and sold at Chapter Arts Centre as part of the Printed festival and at Cardiff Met as part of the CSAD Degree Show. The opening event on 1st June at Chapter was well attended and a number of print sets were sold to raise money for the Friends of LNAA Charity. One of the best things to come out of the project was the formation of strong personal relationships between students here and their creative partners in Ukraine that no doubt will continue.
The project reflected on the interconnectedness of our societies and exposed students to people with different backgrounds and cultures in a spirit of dialogue and openness. It provided a space for reflection and discussion, encouraging empathy and understanding about the experience of living through a war. This was also an opportunity for staff collaboration and establishing good working relationships and to develop an existing partnership between LNAA and CSAD.
In addition to this, the project provided professional opportunities for students who were able to exhibit their work at Chapter Arts Centre during print festival that received a lot of attention and football. They networked with local arts organisation Printhaus, and as a result one of the students has been offered a mentorship with them.
The opening event on 1st June offered networking opportunities for students, for example with people working in publishing, theatre, NHS arts projects, Pen Cymru and WCIA archives. Most importantly, the event raised awareness about the charity and the ongoing challenges faced by students in Ukraine.
This project provides a model for future international collaborative projects. The prints will continue to be sold to raise funds for the charity. In short term those involved in this project are considering making a film that documents students reflecting on the theme of Sanctuary while showing images from project.