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The Courier
23-05-2025
- Business
- The Courier
Dundee University activist artist leads degree show protest over financial crisis
A fine art student studying at Dundee's Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design is using his degree show to protest the university's plan to cut jobs to fill a £35 million budget deficit. A school-wide demonstration is to take place during the two-week degree show at DJCAD – one of the most anticipated events in the university's calendar which attracts thousands of visitors. The students – whose protest will take the form of posters throughout the show – say they want to show their frustration with senior management over its handling of the financial crisis. Original plans suggested over 600 staff could lose their jobs, though the alternative recovery plan has reduced this figure to 300 full-time equivalent roles. The students say they have been working with campus unions to collate snapshots of the crisis, ranging from 'misleading' emails sent by senior management to the worries and experiences of staff and students. They hope it will give visitors a sense of the scale of the crisis. Mr Millar said: 'The degree show is an opportunity for our year to make a real lasting impact on this university and play a role in saving not only the jobs and livelihoods of staff who got us to where we are today, but also ensure future students get the best quality of education they can and keep this university alive.' It is understood around 150 students taking part in the show have agreed to display the posters alongside their work. The DJCAD Degree Show 2025 begins May 24 and runs until June 1. It is open daily between 10am and 4pm. North East MSP and Dundee University rector-elect Maggie Chapman commended Mr Millar and those involved in the project. She told The Courier: 'Art and activism have a longstanding and important relationship: shining a light on injustice, exposing poor decision-making, and giving voice to those usually ignored or silenced.' She said she hopes the university will recognise the project as a warning to 'change course, to listen to the university community, and work with students and staff for everyone's future'.
The Courier
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Courier
Painting with volcanoes? Sneak a peek at DJCAD's 2025 Degree Show
This weekend, Dundee art students get to showcase their years of hard work at the annual DJCAD undergraduate degree show. As ever, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design presents a wide variety of talent with the care and attention of a professional art exhibition. From video, paint and sculpture pieces to imaginative textile design and skilfully-crafted jewellery, there's a wealth of talent on show from the next generation of Dundee makers. You'll also find fascinating stories behind much of the work on show. Here are just four of them, to entice you along. Art and philosophy graduate Joy Jennings has been working in Dundee as a creative therapy support worker. Over the course of a year, she's created 1,000 small figures called Formables in materials ranging from bronze to ceramics. Joy believes handling them could help children and others explore their emotions. 'Due to their size, I knew I would need hundreds to fill any space,' she says. 'But each figure is special in some way, whether by material, colour or form. 'Grouped together, they reflect ourselves as social beings, with deep longings for connection,' the former Madras College student explains. Her interest in therapy comes partly from the Fife-raised artist's own family loss. In 2014 her parents Donna and Thomas set up the Dundee-based charity For the Love of a Child in memory of her brother Samuel, who died of heart failure aged five. Joy adds: 'Out of that grief, the charity was set up to bring hope and healing to children and families who experience trauma, grief and loss.' Recently, she has worked with local primary schools, including Rowantree and Mill of Mains, along with Dudhope Young People's Unit and Ukrainian refugee groups. Edinburgh man Tom Speedy has seen the fruits of his labours used to decorate the show's promotional banners outside DJCAD's Perth Road campus. What you may miss, though, are the textures of his large-scale paintings. The artist adds to his pigments other materials such as volcanic ash gathered from the Mediterranean island Stromboli. Tom bases his self-portraits on photos, including one of him carrying a mate who had fractured his ankle on a trip to Tiree. He says: 'I am drawn to the untouched and unexplored qualities of our environment, turning these incidents into otherworldly landscapes on a grand scale.' Portraiture also appears in the striking work of Andrew Ejiga, who last year was awarded a solo show at Dundee's Keiller Centre. Having focused then on family and friends, Andrew, who came to study in the city from Nigeria, has since sought a wider range of models. 'At the Keiller, I explored the tension between how society perceives us and the realities we experience,' he says. 'But I was surprised by how many people, regardless of background, shared struggles with pressure to fit into a single identity. 'I saw how much more we had in common than what separates us physically. I started focusing less on our differences and more on a shared sense of humanity.' Identity again plays a major role in the work of mature student Nicky Riding. She explores the effects of the menopause – and treatment of older women – in her powerful installation Gazebo. It includes images of women from across the UK along with derogatory terms such as 'crone' and 'hag' alongside the more affirming 'Do you see me now?' She explains: 'Older women are given a rough deal. In our culture, there's far more regard placed on youth, so we're ignored and given little value. 'Influencers like Davina McCall and Mariella Frostrup have increased the menopause's profile. But the art world has still not caught up. 'Representations of it in western culture are very sparse and not positive. 'My menopause has empowered me and hopefully my art can help others feel the same.'
