Slade School of Fine Art Degree Showcase 2020

Due to the current campus lockdown, this year’s Slade School of Fine Art student degree shows were cancelled – a disastrous outcome for those students who had spent three or four years (BA/BFA) or two years (MA/MFA) studying towards that moment, their one opportunity to showcase their work to the wider world.

But Slade staff and students are nothing if not open to experimentation and have embraced the restrictions by producing a virtual degree show. Each student has their own microsite which includes a personal statement and images or video content.

One of the highlights is the work of BA student Mataio Austin Dean, who has produced a tripartite work titled Colonial Structures focusing on UCL’s colonial connections. Anyone who attended the Special Collections Late event, Protest!  Voices of dissent in art and text, will remember Mataio’s moving performance of the late 18th century industrial ballad, The Four Loom Weaver.

The showcase also has some associated live events; from 13th July Slade Radio will broadcast audio work, discussion, talks and other aural miscellany via Twitch.

The online platform is available until 14th July and is an opportunity to celebrate the work of students graduating, before a celebratory physical exhibition next year.