Contemporary Crafts Exhibition blossoms at Glendurgan Garden

Following the successful exhibition last year at Trelissick Gardens, this year’s students have allowed the natural beauty and diversity of Glendurgan to inspire and inform their designs. Every artefact aims to augment and compliment each of the carefully chosen locations, to encourage and enhance the visitors exploration of these important and charming grounds.

The students have employed the whole spectrum of design techniques from marquette making to computer-aided design (CAD), allowing them to discover the possibilities open to them by working with a combination of materials – from ceramics, wood, glass, metals, plastics and textiles. The artefacts displayed illustrate a diverse range of the skills they have acquired on their course both traditional and revolutionary techniques.

 “The fresh young talent emerging from University College Falmouth really mirrors the explosion of spring visible in the riot of exotic trees and flowers within the garden; the exhibition this year really shows how design is relevant to our ecological understanding of why we must have fresh ideas and approaches to fit sustainably into the changing world around us” said Gayle Matthias, Lecturer on the BA(Hons) Contemporary Crafts course.

“The students have embraced this project with excitement and maturity which is reflected in the diversity and standard of their work” said Gayle.

 Set in a wooded valley dropping steeply to the hamlet of Durgan on the shore of the beautiful Helford estuary, Glendurgan is one of the great sub-tropical gardens of the South West. Exotic trees and shrubs flourish amidst open glades carpeted with wild flowers from around the world, flourishing in the warm temperate climate of Cornwall.

Thomas Clarke, Head Gardener at Glendurgan Garden said, “We are really excited to host such a wide range of work, particularly when it has drawn its inspiration from the rich social history, diverse plant collection and unique topography which makes the garden so special. We hope the exhibition will complement the rich variety of early summer colour that now fills the whole garden and give our visitors the chance to see a different side to our work”.

The BA(Hons) Contemporary Crafts course at University College Falmouth is leading the field in Contemporary Crafts by encouraging students to be experimental, to explore new ways of using traditional craft making methods and to find their own artistic voice whilst redefining what craft in the 21st century means. One of the rising stars of tomorrow is Laura Carnell, who was asked to design trophies which have been awarded in recognition of the outstanding achievements of top graduates working in Cornwall. Laura was commissioned by Unlocking Cornish Potential (UCP) – the Combined Universities in Cornwall’s graduate placement scheme – to create the awards, which were presented at their annual Celebration Event in September 2007.

In April 2008, University College Falmouth merged with Dartington College of Arts to create a new institution focusing on the expansion of Falmouth’s expertise in Art, Design and Media and Dartington’s expertise in Choreography, Music, Theatre, Art and Writing.

The merger will pave the way for a new specialist Arts University in Cornwall in 2012, creating a Higher Education institution unique to the South West.

University College Falmouth is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education, funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall County Council.

For further information about BA(Hons) Contemporary Crafts at University College Falmouth, visit www.falmouth.ac.uk/contemporarycrafts  email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk  or telephone Admissions on 01326 213854.

Ends

For further information about University College Falmouth, please contact Jilly Easterby, Head of Public Affairs, Telephone: 00 44 (0)1326 213792; or email:  jilly.easterby@falmouth.ac.uk

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