CSM Museum & Study Collection | Things that Talk: teaching with objects in art and design
Duration: 07 April – 05 May 2025
Learning with the Collection is embedded in teaching at Central Saint Martins. This exhibition showcases 10 years of contributions by students who have taught with the Collection and whose work can be found within. Over this period, staff and students have developed a rich range of object-based learning methodologies that draw on interdisciplinary research and critical pedagogies. Approaches include visual and forensic analysis, emotional and extra-rational responses, playful learning, neurodivergent-inclusive methods and sustainability-focused engagement.​​ In this story, hear from a range of voices about the dynamic ways we engage with material culture working with the Collection
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CSM Museum & Study Collection | Eduardo Paolozzi: a centenary
Duration: 07 November 2024 –17 January 2025
This display celebrated 100 years since Paolozzi’s birth by exhibiting works by him held in the Central Saint Martins Museum & Study Collection. It was accompanied by the essay Eduardo Paolozzi: A Central School Story by Dr Rosie Ram, Course Leader, MA Culture, Criticism and Curation.
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CSM Museum & Study Collection | Co-Create 2024
Duration: 31 July – 10 September 2024
CCW & CSM Foundation Plus have joined forces for an exciting two-week project where students draw inspiration from the rich archives of the CSM Museum & Study Collection. Students work in mixed-discipline pairs, combining their skills and unique approaches to co-create innovative projects. Artefacts and objects from the museum's archives serve as a springboard for creativity, while relevant texts and visual references from the library inform emerging concepts. Samples from the Materials Collection help to inspire sustainable design choices. Throughout the project, tutors provide ongoing feedback and advice, and technicians facilitate hands-on experimentation with diverse materials and specialist processes. The final presentation and group discussion encourage reflection and constructive critique. Foundation Plus students from CSM & CCW will progress onto BA courses at various UAL colleges
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CSM Museum & Study Collection | Graduate Award: Class of 2023
Duration: 14 June – 18 July 2024
The Graduate Award is a prize given to a handful of students each year in recognition of the innovation, creativity, and bravery of their final project. Winners receive a cash prize and an example of their work is acquired for the Central Saint Martins Museum & Study Collection to inspire future generations of students and visitors. Each year, a panel of recent graduates, recruited for their subject specialist expertise and lived experience, view the degree shows and recommend students for the prize. The selection panel’s knowledge and proximity to the current student cohort brings meaning to the collecting process and enhances our capacity to reflect and represent our diverse community.
This body of work reveals the incredible achievements of the artists and designers who graduated in 2023. Collectively, the award winners have created work that celebrates culture, heritage and identity, challenges entrenched narratives, engages in social and political commentary, and explores materials in extraordinary ways
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CSM Museum & Study Collection | Belongings
Duration: 14 March – 29 April 2024
In the UK, many people have migration as part of their family history. This dynamic is reflected within UAL where almost 50% of our students are described as ‘international’. There is clear evidence of immigration’s positive impact on the UK’s cultural, social, and economic life. Yet, those from migrant or refugee backgrounds often face racism and discrimination against a backdrop of anti-immigration politics and a ‘hostile environment’ that fosters stigma and prejudice. Belongings celebrates the contribution of migrants and refugees to British culture. Here, we show work made by refugee artists and makers who have attended the College over the last century, alongside new work by staff, students and recent graduates with migration in their family history. Together, they advance a new experiential understanding of what it means to ‘belong’ in the context of global migration and illustrate the lasting value of the cultural contributions made by those who have moved to the UK. Belongings has been co-created by Susan Aldworth, Sara David, Natalia Mesa Echavarria, Sarah-Jane Field, Silvina Maestro, Julia Shutkevych, Michaelle St Vincent and Judy Willcocks, with support from CSM’s Creativity in Action Fund.
CSM Museum & Study Collection | Heterotopias
Duration: 25 January – 04 March 2024
Heterotopias is an architecture and spatial design exhibition in collaboration between UAL Foundation Diploma and the CSM Museum & Study Collection. Foundation students were challenged to create diorama models of public engagement spaces, inspired by objects acquired by the CSM Museum & Study Collection through our Graduate Award. These spatial proposals invited critical engagement with a selection of work by CSM alumni from diverse disciplines and cultural backgrounds, curated according to four key themes: identity, health and care, social justice, and climate emergency. From Ruthann Mburu’s project about the versatility of afro-textured hair and Ella Krispel’s graphic design posters exploring the misrepresentation of immigration by British media, to Jahnavi Innes’ embroidered quilts celebrating black history and Sam Rodway Smith’s headpiece protecting civilians from face recognition technology, there was an object that intrigued or resonated with every student
Read more about the exhibition here
Lethaby Gallery | EXTOL: Phil Baines Celebrating Letters
Duration: 07 November – 03 December 2023
EXTOL celebrated letters and letterforms through the work of Phil Baines, a graphic designer and typographer who has spent a career exploring their possibilities. A Professor Emeritus at Central Saint Martins, Phil brought rigorous experimentation, a passion for words and a very individual aesthetic to the disciplines of lettering and typography. With a body of work spanning decorative signage and Penguin book covers to public memorials commemorating the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and July 7 2005 London bombings, the exhibition also shared key influences like medieval manuscripts, rare and early printed books and photographic archives
Read more about the exhibition here
CSM Museum & Study Collection | Interwoven: Neurodiversity and the Creative Mind
Duration: 16 September – 06 November 2023
Interwoven: Neurodiversity and the Creative Mind is based on a project that explores the links between creative process and neurodiverse minds and how those two things interlink. The window display reflected a 3-day workshop that artist, Christopher Kelly, hosted in July for Central Saint Martins students. Teaching crafted making techniques through a neurodiverse lens, students used traditional methods found in crochet and coiling, experimenting with making sculptural forms using intentionally sourced or discarded materials. Featuring the workshop outcomes alongside a curated selection of objects from the museum archive created by neurodiverse artists, the Interwoven exhibition merges the intricate facets of neurodiversity with the craftsmanship of artistry
Watch the exhibition film here
