Joshua Y'Barbo

 Galleries and Museums Post-lockdown With the UK swinging back to a new normality, I’ve asked some of the artists we work with through the LEWIS Foundation about returning to galleries and museums as they reopen. I spoke to Katrīna Kucane and Yoel Raminsinfante, who graduated from Chelsea College of Art on a BA (Hons) Interior Spatial Design and a Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art. According to a poll taken last year before the first lockdown ended as museum and galleries preparing to reopen, the public appeared uneasy and not ready to return to galleries and museums. Even with all the preparation, most public collections and exhibitions moved to online spaces, with attendance to physical exhibitions impossible during the lockdown. A year later, we now see the cultural sector reopening and people planning their slow return to normality. Both Marina Ambrovic and Yayoi Kusama’s show have been pushed back to this year. After nearly a year of not visiting galleries and museums, what do ...

 The Materiality of Dialogue (revisited) From 2017 to 2018, I participated in Locating the Social in Architectur e: co-organised by the ICA, the Architecture Space and Society Centre at Birkbeck, and the Consortium for the Humanities and the Arts South-East England UK.   As a Research Participant and Presenter (2017-2018), I represented the UAL as an art practitioner. I delivered a paper on the Material Dialogue in Socially Engaged Art at the concluding symposium held at the ICA (2018).  This June, I revised this paper for a call and response programme for a research-in-progress event involving arts and humanities research students and supervisors from several institutions.  Introduction Hi, my name is Joshua Y’Barbo. My research on Institutional Critique After the Educational Turn focused on the salons at Chelsea College of Arts, which formed part of the teaching practice of Brian Chalkley, former course director of MA Fine Art. Chalkley conceptualised the sal...

Virtual Letters from the artist, Will Griffin Will Griffin challenges the typical art student stereotype, and the accessibility of creativity, which offers inspiration to those who think they’re not posh enough to be ‘arty’ to take a leap. In late August 2020, I began speaking to Will Griffin about the work he made over the previous academic year as a Graduate Diploma in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art. I had seen Will's work while I shuffled through the Graduate online showcase online profiles looking for artists and designers to exhibit for the Team LEWIS Foundation annual exhibition. This year's exhibition would be different than previous ones I curated for the foundation. In late July 2020, just prior to receiving a virtual letter from Will about himself and his work, local lockdowns came into force and more lockdown restrictions eased across England. As local government gained authority over social distancing enforcement, we saw pubs, restaurants and hair salons reop...

A Conversation with Interior Designer, Katrīna Kucane, on Graduating during Lockdown and Maintaining Her Practice How Interior Design Graduate coped with completing her course and progressing her professional practice after graduation during national and international lockdowns, forced bubbling, and self-isolation. With the UK swinging back to a new normality, I’ve asked some of the artists we work with through the LEWIS Foundation about graduating and maintain a studio art or design practice during the multiple lockdowns. I had one such conversation with Katrīna Kucane, who is a graduate of the BA (Hons) Interior Spatial Design at Chelsea College of Art, whom I included in the 2020-2021 annual Team LEWIS Foundation exhibition at Millbank Tower. The following is our virtual conversation about her motivations, practical knowledge in photography, and examples of her recent film work. I included By sharing this exchange between myself and Katrina, I  hope to increase conversation...

A conversation with Chaity Barua This month, I spoke with BA (Hons) Interior Spatial Design graduate from Chelsea College of Art, Chaity Barua, about her work and transcultural experiences.  I included Chaity in the  Team LEWIS Foundation  annual exhibition with recent graduates from 2020-2021.  We talk about building a professional practice after graduating from a university design programme, and the significance of problem-solving design ideas. JY: Tell me about yourself.  CB:  I was born in Bangladesh, but grown up in Italy. As a designer, I try my best to illustrate and cope with theme projects that are able to manifest or even illustrate today's endless difference between culture, gender, religion, and social class system etc. Therefore my knowledge and curiosities regarding different cultural values, the way I see and approach my work is strongly affected by it. Specifically, the different social interaction systems present in India. JY:  What is...

Closing of the 2020-2021 Team LEWIS Foundation Annual Exhibition of Recent Graduates from Chelsea College of Arts  Over 30 Artist and Designer Profiles of 2020 graduates from BA (Hons) in Fine Art, Graphics, Interior Design, and Textile Course at Chelsea College  Closing Remarks So, another as this year's BA Graduates at Chelsea College prepare their online graduate showcase and open studios at the college, the Team LEWIS Foundation Annual Graduate Exhibition comes to a close. However, you can see this year's exhibition on the Team LEWIS Foundation page .  Out of the 4 years I've curated this exhibition, this year has been unique. Students with limited access to their studios created work that solely showed online, while Millbank Tower was closed for most of the year. However, thanks to the digital shift in the 2020 BA graduate show to an online showcase, I was able to work with more than 30 different artists and designers who graduated from Fine Art, Graphics, Interior D...