The World of Arts: Regent’s Arts Festival 2015
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| Photo Credit: Fabio Venni License |
Talented
youngsters will have the chance to display their works – such as dresses,
paintings, or statues – and to perform in different arts, as music, theatre,
cinema.
The
event includes also seminars and other activities to touch first-hand what do
these young people study.
“A
world without creativity is just going to be a bit boring. We need to make that
clear to everybody,” says Aileen Thomson - PA to Pro-Vice Chancellor Judith
Ackroyd and Associate Dean Dr Lisa Doodson of the Faculty of Humanities and Social
Sciences at Regent’s University.
She
organises the Regent’s Art Festival for this year.
Nevertheless,
students will not be the only one to get involved in the event. These days,
indeed, will be also an occasion for the learners to know that “their lecturers
aren’t just there to sit behind the desk, and teach them. But they are creative
in their own things, and they have contacts in a creative world, Miss Thomson
says.
And
here comes the second most important element for a future in arts, in addition
to creativity: networking.
Opportunity
like this, organised by the institutions or other organisations, let the
meeting among learners and people from the industry happen. Students have the
chance to know peers from other universities as well as experts and people
involved in this field to receive feedbacks and increase their list of
contacts.
Video Credit: Deeksha Sharma + Cristiana Ferrauti
Sideways to stand out
“It
started off three years ago just because we wanted to promote within the
university all the things that we are doing in our faculty,” Aileen Thomson
told us.
Now, the Festival is a cross-faculty and cross-university event.
Now, the Festival is a cross-faculty and cross-university event.
The
offer and the days are smaller in comparison with the past, but this reduction
will avoid people been overwhelmed by choices, which ends with no attending any
event at all.
A
similar situation is visible more in general for the whole city in London.
Arts
and culture often overwhelm the visitors as well as the citizens.
Big
names of galleries and museums come immediately in our mind when thinking about
the capital.
However,
new talents and keen learners may face difficulties in finding their own ways.
“It may
be not necessary to have certain grades, but often what you need is a good
network. It is not a matter of what you know about a particular subject, but
what you do and how you show your artworks,” says Sacha Vinson, Mixed Media Fine Art (BA Hons) student at the
University of Westminster.Sophie
Watkins, Vinson’s colleague, adds “You have to go there and see people, and often
they discover you by chance.”
What
may appear a useless subject in terms of productivity – as you end up without a
functional and operating item in this current must-be-productive world -,
actually, seems nowadays find non-conventional ways to emerge.
Pop-up
galleries or the transformation of offices and stores in more creative and
interactive spaces are just some examples.
Arts
go out in the streets and look for improving boring and dull places, that is a brave
action, in Miss Thomson’s opinion, but it pays off.
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| Photo Credit: Chris Beckett License |
Encouraging data
“There
are good sign-up numbers for our event this year”, adds Aileen Thomson,
referring to the attendance at Regent’s Arts Festival.
Looking
at the Key Findings in the Creative Industries Economic Estimates, it reads that 1 in 12 UK jobs
was in the Creative Economy in 2013.
Between
1997 and 2013, the annual percentage for employment in this field was four
times the equivalent increase per year for the whole UK Economy.
Similar
trends are visible for the Creative Industries.
On
the 4th of March, the Arts Council England has announced the investment of £1.87 millionto eight London organisations – among 18 in all Britain – in order to take
their projects around the country.
Moreover, other funds seem to be on the way to encourage
as many organisations as possible to bring on their portfolios and their
activities.
“I
think creativity among university students should be much more widely
promoted,” says Aileen Thomson.
Even
if not financially supported, young people as well as trained artists try to be
creative in their own way. Nevertheless, when the value of their works is
recognised, there are even more reasons to bring on their passions.
Miss
Thomson adds that such events are important for students as will let them know
that “there is a world out where people are creative, there are people are
successfully creative.”
“For
society, arts is important as you can solve problems and face problems in a
more dynamic way,” says Sacha Vinson.
Charles
Billingham, Mixed Media Fine Arts (BA Hons) student, also comments: “Arts may
appear quite pointless in terms of what you materially produce. But it really
helps to understand how the world works”
“By
attending an artistic course, you can think more outside the box, you can
develop more, you can experiment more,” says Mamon Hawkins, Arts student at the
University of Westminster.
Aileen Thomson tells us: “You are generally happier and more productive if you have something you can release creatively.”
Aileen Thomson tells us: “You are generally happier and more productive if you have something you can release creatively.”
Interview
with Mixed Media Fine Arts (BA Hons) students at the University of Westminster.
From
left to right: Sacha Vinson, Charles Billingham, Mamon Hawkins, Daisy Hull,
Sophie Watkins.
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