The VMC Research Group at Northumbria provides a dynamic hub for researchers and students engaged with the historical and theoretical analysis of art, culture, design, museums, and architecture. The group acts as a forum to bring together researchers across the university and offers an annual programme of events relating to current issues in visual and material culture research.
Our diverse membership delivers teaching across the following subject areas: Fine Art; Fashion; Graphic Design; 3D Product Design; Industrial and Interior Design; Conservation; Creative and Cultural Industries Management and Asian Art. Our members’ research offers specialisms in cultural production from the 19th century to present day, across Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. Members’ recent research subjects include: borders and borderlands; (multi)cultural heritage; community and participation; activist aesthetics; feminist politics in art; Scottish documentary photography; cultural organisations and institutions; Japanese-European fashion exchange; British-Australian cultural exchange; sound art; paper conservation and technical art history.
Each semester the group convenes a series of seminars where staff and students can share research and debate current issues in the field. In addition to arranging frequent, informal opportunities to discuss our research as a group, we regularly host external speakers and events. These events are a fantastic opportunity to hear about current work from art historians, critics, curators and artists from the UK and beyond. The research seminar series enhances the experience of our postgraduate students and is a significant forum for staff to deliver, listen, and engage with cutting-edge research in visual and material culture. Group members are also active in convening symposia, reading groups, exhibitions, film screenings and association conferences (including Design History Society, 2019, and Association for Art History, 2020). Newcastle is home to one of the most exciting contemporary art scenes in the UK and we maintain teaching and research partnerships with local galleries, museums and heritage institutions.