Designs explore social questions

Hemercia Quintas with her Best in Show fashion and textile piece Afro Hair

COLLEGE art and design students are exploring social issues and British values in their summer exhibitions.

More than 200 students at Oldham College are exhibiting their work in end-of-year shows, a traditional feature of art and design courses.

The work on show at the Middleton Road campus Digital and Creative building includes fashion, 3D design, digital illustration, fine art, games design, graphic design and photography.

Some of the projects explore challenging topical themes which show how young people are informed about current affairs, politics and social questions. Some designs, including textiles and fashion, look at issues such as human trafficking, attitudes to women and practices such as female genital mutilation.

Jo Manship, Digital and Creative Faculty head, said: "The students have worked for 10 weeks on their final major projects. They have researched and developed their ideas based on our British values. This is a topic we explore and discuss with all our students, but our creative students have taken this one step further and used it as a starting point for their final projects.

"They have gained a lot of knowledge and understanding by researching British values, thinking about what these mean to them, and how society reflects or questions our values to promote democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance.

"This year's shows are jam-packed with an incredible array of work. Students have produced sophisticated, ambitious and diverse responses to these themes that clearly shows their creative potential.

"We are very proud of what they have achieved, the huge journey the students have been on, and we feel very positive about their future success in the creative industries.

"They were encouraged to work as a professional in addition to using creativity and vision, teamwork, planning and organisation. The exhibition demonstrated the high-quality skills and knowledge they developed on their creative study programmes."

Jo said creative programmes at the college prepare students for careers, apprenticeships or progression to higher education.

A key part of the programmes are work placements in the creative industries, where students work on real projects. Many college students progress to university including the London College of Fashion, Westminster University, universities in regional cities and towns, as well as University Campus Oldham, which is linked to Oldham College.

First year students have exhibited their work this week, which included an open evening for families and friends on Monday. Second year students will exhibit their work from Monday to Thursday, June 26 to 29.