{"id":10163,"date":"2023-04-24T13:21:37","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T13:21:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/?p=10163"},"modified":"2023-04-25T10:26:01","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T10:26:01","slug":"connecting-the-community-with-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2023\/04\/24\/connecting-the-community-with-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecting The Community With Art"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

University of Reading art students have taken over Thames Tower<\/a> in Reading town centre, with an exhibition that encourages the community to connect with one another through shared experiences, encounters and storytelling.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reading\u2019s School of Art students<\/a> opened the exhibition with a mock protest which saw students parade outside the Thames Tower holding placards they created to demonstrate something they are passionate about. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"StudentsStatements on the placards were inspired by themes of signage and freedom of expression and ranged from personal to political. The name of the exhibition, Arachnophobia and Other Tales<\/em><\/a>, refers to one of the artworks in the exhibition which is a large fluffy spider. One of the exhibit organisers, Dr Florian\u00a0Roithmayr<\/a>, from the University of Reading School of Art, said: \u201cPeople in the building have taken a real shine to it, so it\u2019s actually created the opposite of arachnophobia \u2013 they are actually quite fond of the spider.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Roithmayr explained that the reference to \u201cand other tales\u201d in the exhibition title refers to all the stories that everyone has to share. He said: \u201cArt is very much a vehicle for communicating: sharing and exchanging stories of personal encounters or experiences, and making them public to bring people together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shared Experiences<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"CarrouselThe artists explore a range of multi-faceted themes in this exhibition and touch on many contemporary issues from imagined realities, nostalgia, fragility, desire and grief, to diaspora, identity and the male gaze.<\/p>\n

Dr Roithmayr said: \u201cWhat might affect one person might also be relevant to another. Storytelling is a great way of reaching people, and art is a wonderous way of storytelling. Most art has a tale and something to say.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Art is a way to have your voice heard which is the purpose of this exhibition. It allows our young artists in the University to have their voices heard by giving them a platform to engage with the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exhibition is the first in a series of a long-term project for Reading School of Art, in partnership with the\u00a0corporate building Thames Tower\u00a0and\u00a0HS Projects<\/a>, who specialise in delivering artistic interventions and projects in unexpected places.<\/p>\n

Tina Sotiriadi, co-founder of HS Projects, said: \u201cWe like the challenge of working in non-gallery spaces outside of\u2019the usual \u2018white cube\u2019 setting. We transform unconventional places into interesting forums for artistic and cultural exchange, and produce art exhibitions that seek to engage new audiences with the arts.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe ground floor area of Thames Tower provides an excellent exhibition space and, with its large floor-to-ceiling windows, offers great visibility to the passing public who are welcome to come in and view the exhibition.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"PlacardsThe project is part of the University\u2019s drive for embedding professional practice into education. Dr Roithmayr explained: \u201cProfessional artists present and exhibit their artwork and it is absolutely crucial that our students receive hands-on experience of this, as well as working with external curators. This collaboration with Thames Tower and HS Projects is a very generous opportunity for the students because they are all paid an artist\u2019s fee for being part of the exhibition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll of this is part of what we try to do as a University, in terms of providing professional training and employability skills. There are many aspects of professional training that are overlooked within the industry, such as writing invoices, valuing your own work, working with curators and dealing with insurance. These are invaluable skills which the University and this experience are providing for our students.\u201d<\/p>\n

HS Projects will be curating two exhibitions a year at Thames Tower as part of the ongoing project with the University\u2019s School of Art.<\/p>\n

Arachnophobia and Other Tales<\/em> is being exhibited on the ground floor of the Thames Tower<\/a> and can be viewed by the public for free until 9 June 2023<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

University of Reading art students have taken over Thames Tower in Reading town centre, with an exhibition that encourages the community to connect with one another through shared experiences, encounters and storytelling. Reading\u2019s School of Art students opened the exhibition with a mock protest which saw students parade outside the Thames Tower holding placards they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":10185,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[14,64,69,25,170,169,56],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nConnecting The Community With Art - Connected<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"University of Reading students have taken over Thames Tower in Reading, with an exhibition that encourages connecting through storytelling.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2023\/04\/24\/connecting-the-community-with-art\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Connecting The Community With Art - 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