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UEL Students showcase internationally-inspired artwork at Canary Wharf Travel Scholarship Exhibition

Tuesday 28 April 2009

An exhibition of innovative international art projects created by students of the School of Architecture and Visual Arts at the University of East London (UEL) is now on show at the AVA gallery at UEL's Docklands campus. The students all were recipients of scholarship funding from the Canary Wharf Group, and George Iacobescu, Chief Executive of Canary Wharf, was guest of honour at a reception on Friday 24 April.

Canary Wharf Travel Scholarships were awarded to individual students and groups to give them the chance to experience other cultures and work together with artists in other countries. The week-long exhibition includes paintings, photographs, graphic prints, sculptures and web based interactive artworks, and a projector screen showing photographs of the students’ experiences world-wide including trips to Berlin, Moscow, Taiwan and Beijing.

Pete Cobb, Acting Dean of the School of Architecture and Visual Arts said: “The Canary Wharf Travel Scholarships have really inspired all of our students, and establish creative links with partners around the world. The Scholarship winners have gained invaluable opportunities to develop as artists, and have invigorated their practice with first-hand experience of different cultures. We are delighted that this relationship has developed in recent years, and UEL staff and students have also had their work exhibited in Canary Wharf."

Four BA (Hons) Fine Art students made individual site-specific sculptural installations at the Tainan National University of the Arts in Tainan, Taiwan, as a result of studying for one month there. Stephanie Somerfield, 20, Alison Campbell, 21 and Paula Smolarska, 25, Alex Glenn, 22 travelled to Taiwan and Taipei last year.

Paula said: “The opportunity to work in Taiwan was very unexpected and a great surprise to us and it was a fantastic reward for all our hard work. We had a great time exchanging our project ideas with the students from Tainan University, and received a lot of interest in our work there.”

Ten graphic design students also spent a week in Katowice, Poland at the beginning of April on an Erasmus exchange programme with AspKatowice, an International Design Centre. One of the students, Harriet Lee, 21, is in her final year studying for a BA Graphic Design combined with photography. She said: “I loved the trip and the international experience. It really helped to see the work of the students at Katowice, they have designed some great posters.”

The exhibition runs until Thursday 30 April, and further Canary Wharf Travel Scholarship projects planned this year include work in places as diverse as Egypt, Japan, Italy and the Netherlands. UEL’s School of Architecture and the Visual Arts (AVA) brings together architecture, art and design and students take part in many professional projects and exhibitions.

Ends.

UEL Press office contact: 0208 223 6239 or 07595 056245

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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