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Students from across the University’s postgraduate, undergraduate and further education courses were invited to present their work at the 2023 Student Sustainability Research Conference at the University of Leeds.
This was the first year the conference was open to students from 12 higher education institution across Yorkshire, and was held in-person for the first time in two years. Leeds Arts University students displayed academic posters, gave presentations and showcased work at the conference all addressing a range of aspects of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Hepsi Nelson and Lydia Klenczar, BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Phoebe Jacob, BA (Hons) Fashion Photography presented their collaborative project with a focus on a circular economy. Their project, ‘Re-shaping surplus’ saw first-year students working with donated or found garments, no longer suitable for resale, to create over 80 new items which were then styled collaboratively and captured by fashion photography students.
Amina Jeng, Extended Diploma in Creative Practice gave a presentation on the theme of Cultural Conservation, discussing her aim to change the stereotypes and agendas attached to the black community through positive cultural education, sharing the influence her Gambian heritage has on her own practice.
MA Graphic Design student Hosna Zare presented her video, considering an alternative planet ‘Equarth’ (equality and Earth) where all the people are considered equal and live together happily regardless of gender, nationality, skin colour or religion, suggesting that living on an equal and sustainable planet is not an unattainable dream.
Fred Cooper, final-year BA (Hons) Filmmaking student gave a presentation and showed his film, a projection sequence which utilises natural sounds and distorted manmade recordings accompanying archive footage which reflects on the attitudes towards climate change when first discussed on national television, in contrast to the role it plays in our lives now.
Fred, Amina and MA Creature Design student Holly Mansell-Ward also had work on display as part of an academic poster exhibition in Parkinson Court. Holly’s poster and dissertation 'Art for Change' aims to examine the ongoing distruction of marine life, and features designs and special effects makeup amalgamating the human and coral forms.
“It’s achievement for my research project to gain recognition and value, as it’s so imperative that we make changes to conserve life below water”
Holly Mansell-Ward, MA Creature Design