MFA Fine Art students showcase their work in a group exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary

8 MFA students presented Aftermath with works responding to Nottingham Contemporary’s recent exhibition From Ear to Ear to Eye

The MFA students at Nottingham Contemporary. Photo Simon Burrows.

Students on our MFA Fine Art course have recently had the opportunity to exhibit their work at Nottingham Contemporary, one of the UK’s leading regional art galleries. The exhibition, entitled Aftermath, showcased works made by the students in response to the exhibition From Ear to Ear to Eye, which took place at Nottingham Contemporary earlier this year.

Aftermath, which this year ran from 11 – 13 May, is an annual project in which our MFA students respond to the issues and concerns raised in a Nottingham Contemporary exhibition through their own practices, culminating in a group exhibition in which our students take over The Space.

This year the students drew inspiration from the exhibition From Ear To Ear to Eye, a show which explored sounds, music and listening from the Arab world in its various forms. Typically perceived as a place of conflict and catastrophe, this show challenged such a perception through provoking discussions on works by 20 artists and musicians, exploring process, deconstruction and the senses.

The MFA students during a crit session

The exhibiting artists were David Cantrill, Arit Emmanuela, Katharina Fitz, Rebecca Fletcher, MJ The Art Traveller, Szilvia Ponyiczki, Lou Robert and Jane Marie Williams. We caught up with them to discuss their experience of exhibiting at Nottingham Contemporary. Katharina Fitz told us: “Having the opportunity to exhibit at such an important gallery within the UK is an amazing one. As a group it has brought us together, from both personal and professional perspectives, and has been very fruitful.”

Discussing the MFA more broadly, Arit Emmanuela said: “The freedom which the course gives us to explore our practices is brilliant. If we want to try something different, there is always a technician or tutor there to help and guide us.”

On the value which participating in this project provides the students, MFA Course leader Andrew Brown added: “For the Aftermath project, the students engage with an exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary, using their own practices as critical tools. This enables them to engage with a sense of criticality in relation to their own work.”

This year with the support of fellow postgraduate students, they produced a publication, which can be viewed here.