Our Exhibitions

Join us at the AI Exhibition hosted by The Paxman Research & Innovation Centre! Discover the transformative potential of AI in the industrial design and development process.

29.01.24 - 12.02.24

Opening times: 10:00 - 17:00 Mon-Fri

Through twenty posters showcasing the potential future of AI explore the application of AI for Product/Industrial Design and new product development. Testing the application of various AI tools like Midjourney, Chat GPT, Dreamgaussion and more.

 

 

Changes: Design Approaches for Different Contexts features Jung Hoon Baek's three recent projects that work at different scales and address issues of balancing sustainability with innovation and aesthetic satisfaction.

01.02.24 - 01.03.24

Opening times: 10:00 - 17:00 Mon-Fri

When commissioned to proceed with design projects, designers face limitations such as low budgets, short time frames, client requirements, etc. This exhibition explores how design approaches change in different contexts when conducting various projects. When working on projects with global companies, startups, or government agencies, designers must approach them strategically and consider various areas. This exhibition provides students and broader audiences with opportunities to understand various approaches to their design projects in response to different requirements.

Jung Hoon Baek is an award-winning multidisciplinary designer from South Korea. He is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Digital Product Design at Hoseo University. Previously, He worked as a design executive at MIDEA, a global Chinese company, and led the innovation of the UX part of household appliances. Before this, he worked as an industrial designer for LG Electronics household appliances. While he has worked as a designer in the UK, South Korea, and China, he has won awards at various international design competitions, including six awards at the Reddot Concept Design Award, a global international competition.

He earned a master's degree in the Department of Multidisciplinary Design Innovation at Northumbria University in the UK and achieved BFA Degree at Kyung Hee University. Currently, his research focuses on multidisciplinary academic exchange and digital change.

Everything is Suspended in Movement is the culmination of Mulhearn's research as part of a PhD by practice. the installation consists of four screens which cycle through eight-five still photographs, with each image visible for eight seconds. A unique arbitrary sequence of four images appears and is constantly replaced, so that meaning and narrative are suggested but the time to settle and resolve this is denied. An accompanying sound work has been specifically designed by Isaac Baggaley, also a Huddersfield PhD candidate.

16.02.24 - 30.03.24

Preview evening: Friday 16.02.24 6-9pm (followed by Electric Spring concert) click to RSVP

Opening times: 10am-3pm Mon - Fri, 11am – 4pm Saturdays 

Textiles on Toast - Another Slice is a chance to see the amazing work by our Year 1 & Year 2 Textiles Students, make sure to visit to see work in a variety of media and showcasing different skills and crafts.

04.03.24 - 14.03.24

Opening times: 10:00-15:00pm Mon - Fri, 11:00-16:00 Saturdays 

(Re)Imagining Huddersfield’s Narratives Toward a Better Future is an exhibition of work produced through research-informed teaching, and will showcase the rationale and theme behind design studio projects developed by Year 2 & Year 3 Architecture Students. The exhibition will be divided into two sections:

• (Re)Imagining Huddersfield as a walkable town 
• Arts, Culture and Community Centre

07.03.24 - 05.04.24

Preview evening: Thursday 7th March, 16:30 – 18:00

Opening times: 10:00 - 17:00 Mon-Fri 

08.03.24 - 30.03.24 

Preview event: Friday 8th March, 13:00 – 16:00 

Yun Gao, Ensiyeh Farrokhirad, Adrian Pitts, Xiang Ren, Intesar Ibrahim, and members of the public from Dash Huddersfield and Shared Goods.

The exhibition has been organised by the Sustainable Living Research Centre (SLRC) in order to showcase understandings of the relationship between cultures of place, healthy living environments and climate change. It aims to engage the public; including local communities and representing refugees and immigrants, based in Huddersfield and Sheffield. The exhibition will explore new perspectives and approaches to the understanding of, engagement with, and creation of links between cultures, identity and sustainability.

The exhibition includes two sections and uses a rich variety of drawings, photographs, and oral narratives. The first aims to share the challenges associated with lighting, temperature, and humidity in people’s home and their neighbourhood. The second section explores how buildings and interiors relate and are interconnected to the lived experiences of immigrants from Libya and East Asia in Sheffield.

‘That's Life’ captures the series of work which demonstrates the broadness of our exhibition overall capturing the positive and negative impacts of how we live, exploring the unique outcomes to the cost of things. Each individual has been developing their own series of work portraying their individual response to this theme. Exploring the impact and issues that affect our lives and the planet, this exhibition also portrays an insight into the positive impacts in life. Opposing themes within our exhibition, such as environmental impact, fashion and the cost of living together, explores archival work and investigates the impact that home and communication has on our lives.  

Click here to find out more

Featuring:

Joseph Blythe 

Gavin Jones 

Khal Botterill 

Rachel Curzon 

Bethany Ridley-Duff 

Caitlyn Matthews 

Zay Camomile 

M.E.G 

Vicki Evans 

LJ Green 

Emma Knutzen 

Abby Baye Pullan 

Duckie Kibou 

Mathilde Clear 

Connor Hulme 

Celebrating Cultures of Creative Health with an Exhibition  

The School of Arts and Humanities and the Centre for Cultural Ecologies in Art, Design and Architecture at the University of Huddersfield are thrilled to announce an exhibition of the Cultures of Creative Health programme, on display at The Bath House & Sovereign Design Galleries and across the Barbara Hepworth Building, between 1st November 2024, and 11th January 2025. 

Sovereign Design Galleries and Toast House Café, Queen Street South Annexe, Huddersfield, HD1 3DR 

Opening times:  Mon – Thu: 9am –3pm; Fri: 9am –2:30pm 

Barbara Hepworth Building – Atrium & Mezzanine Gallery, Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH 

Opening times:  Mon – Fri: 9am –7pm 

This exhibition marks the culmination of Cultures of Creative Health, a dynamic, year-long public programme led by the School of Arts and Humanities from January 2024 to January 2025. Over the past 12 months, this initiative has connected creativity and health through a diverse range of activities, collaborations, and research projects, all aimed at improving health and wellbeing in West Yorkshire. 

A range of public activities and events linked to the exhibition and programme will take place in November, December and January. Please join our mailing list to receive further details and information link.   

Key Highlights of the Cultures of Creative Health Programme: 

• Guest Speaker Series: A series of insightful talks featuring academic researchers, health professionals, creative practitioners, and community organisations. You can listen to these discussions on our Spotify channel where we explore the intersections of creativity and health. 

• Creative Practitioner Workshops: In partnership with hoot creative arts, we piloted professional development workshops tailored to creative practitioners in the health sector, offering support for those already working or interested in entering this field. 

• Knowledge & Cultural Exchange Projects: Collaborating with external partners across West Yorkshire, we launched numerous exchange projects showcased in this exhibition. 

• Funded Research Projects: Both solo and group research initiatives have delved into the impact of creativity on health and wellbeing, many of which are showcased here. 

• Creative Residencies: The Toast House Galleries hosted several creative practitioner residencies, which aimed to foster artistic exploration and community engagement. 

• Educational Integration: We embedded Cultures of Creative Health into our undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum through live briefs, student exhibitions, and collaborative projects. 

Collaborative & Creative Impact 

This programme has been shaped by creative experimentation and collaboration. Building on prior Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)-funded research, our work has continued to gather stories from people with lived experiences to explore the power and potential of creative health approaches in West Yorkshire. 

Launch of the Creative Health Hub for West Yorkshire 

One of the key outcomes of the Cultures of Creative Health programme is the establishment of the Creative Health Hub for West Yorkshire—the first of its kind in the region. This Hub will collaborate with external partners to promote creative health and develop innovative forms of health provision. It aligns with the West Yorkshire Creative Health System, supported by Mayor Tracy Brabin and the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership Board. 

Join Us in the Exhibition 

This exhibition showcases work by academic researchers from the School of Arts and Humanities alongside collaborations with key partners such as Other Ways to Walk, Men in Sheds, Creative Wakefield, Mondays at the Museum, and Support to Recovery (S2R).  

Discover more about the impact of creative health across West Yorkshire and share with us your experiences of creative health within the region.  

Thank You to Our Partners 

We extend our heartfelt thanks to the communities and partners who have been involved in this journey. We look forward to future collaborations and opportunities to continue exploring the connection between creativity and health. 

Through textiles, sculpture, video, and painting, Matheson examines themes of place, identity, belonging and drawing on the 1950's migration of Carriacou's people to Britain. Building on cultural connections, Matheson has been able to develop his practice and engage with local communities in Huddersfield, UK and Carriacou, Grenada, through a series of research workshops. 

Key themes include culture, migration, the history of windrush and the recent environmental and community destruction cause by hurricaine Beryl in the Caribbean. 

Opening times: Mon - Wed & Sat 11am - 4pm

Sovereign Design Galleries and Toast House Café, Queen Street South Annexe, Huddersfield, HD1 3DR 

Town Island is delivered in partnership with Yorkshire Contemporary, University of Huddersfield and the School of Arts and Humanities, Kirklees Council, Cultures of Creative Health and Cultures of Climate.

Town Island is funded by the UK Government, the British Council and Arts Council England.

One of the most important features of the School of Arts and Humanities is the support students and academics receive from the technical teams. These staff members are the unsung heroes of academia. Their expertise drives innovation in thinking and making across all subject areas, but these contributions are not always recognised for the valuable resource they are.

Many of our technical team are highly accomplished practitioners, and this group show features contributions from five members of technical staff who present work that showcases their amazing skills and ideas, bringing to life creative innovation in fashion, textiles, film and sculpture.

This exhibition is part of our Cultures of Climate programme for the academic year 2024-2025. The work on display foregrounds strategies and practices of re-using, re-making and re-thinking across a range of areas often involving everyday but extraordinary practices. Each piece explores how we can re-imagine and re-use materials in ways that are both innovative, ethical and aesthetic.

Themes encompass variations of traditional craft techniques, the spatial practices of walking, digital innovations with film and navigating contemporary innovation in the context of the climate crisis. 

Exhibition Opening Times:

Monday – Thursday & Saturday: 10am – 3pm

Friday: 10am – 2:30pm

(Closed Easter Bank Holiday Weekend)

 

Address: Sovereign Design House, Queen Street South Annexe, Huddersfield HD1 3DR.

An exhibition of Postgraduate Research from the School of Arts and Humanities.

Exhibiting Artists	Research Posters
Piper Barras Jo Christman Claire Diggle Caitlyn Matthews	Rachel Dale Samudra Das Nadee Kularatna Jade Peckham Pooja prasoona Raja Lucia Sikoraiova Connor Simpson Joshua Wallace Ling Zhou

Exhibition Dates: 16 May 2025 - 19 June 2025

Exhibition Times: Monday - Thursday: 10am - 3pm, Fridays: 10am - 2:30pm

Address: Sovereign Design House & Toast House Cafe, Queen St South Annexe, Huddersfield, HD1 3DR

Cutting Waste, Creating Wonky explores the beauty of imperfection in fashion by presenting garments that challenge conventional design and pattern-cutting techniques. Reimagining traditional methods, the exhibition emphasizes fabric-efficient clothing, turning irregularities into positive design features to reduce fashion waste.

By altering grainlines and embracing unconventional pattern cuts, Cutting Waste, Creating Wonky pushes the boundaries of garment construction, blending experimental design with wearability. The exhibition showcases how innovative approaches can transform our understanding of fashion and sustainability.

Dr. Claire Evans, Senior Lecturer in Fashion at the University of Huddersfield, began her career in the 1990s designing garments in Moldgreen, Huddersfield. This exhibition traces her journey from traditional fashion to radical, waste-conscious design. Featuring pieces from her original fashion line alongside jersey cotton skirts that explore challenging fabric-efficient approaches, Cutting Waste, Creating Wonky celebrates creative resistance and responsible fashion innovation.

Cutting Waste, Creating Wonky is supported by Cultures of Climate and University of Huddersfield. It is in collaboration with WOVEN and Kirklees Museum and Galleries.

Exhibition Dates: Monday 26 May - Saturday 28 June
Exhibition Opening Times: Mon, 11am - 3pm, Tues - Thurs, 11am - 5pm, Sat & Sun, 12pm - 5pm
Address: The Tolson Museum, Ravensknowle Park, Wakefield Rd, Moldgreen, Huddersfield, HD5 8DJ

The Cultures of Climate Art Trail spans between Huddersfield and Dewsbury, with exhibitions exploring the role of art as an asset for social and environmental sustainability.

Recycle En Masse, exhibited in the Toast House Cafe, is a collection of printed reproductions of paintings and photographs depicting citizens of Dewsbury, with views of Shoddy and Mungo Mills. These images are part of the site-specific Cultures of Climate Arts Trail, between Huddersfield and Dewsbury, exploring the role of art as an asset for social and environmental sustainability. Visitors are invited to consider the current climate crisis, against the backdrop of the nineteenth and twentieth century production of Shoddy and Mungo - the earliest and largest example of recycled textile fabric. Instead of celebrating the industrial ingenuity, or scale of recycling, the photographs (by Fred Hartley) and townscapes (by Gerald Park and former Head of the School of Art in Huddersfield - Noël Spencer) help shine a light on the social contexts of the industry.

The Cultures of Climate Arts Trail 29 May – 19 June 2025

Recycle En Masse: Toast House Café, University of Huddersfield Queen St South Annexe, Huddersfield HD1 3DR. Opening times: 10am-3pm Mon-Thurs 10am-2:30pm Fri.

Soar Away (by Deborah Rundle): Dewsbury Town Hall, Wakefield Old Rd, Dewsbury WF12 8DG, Opening Times: 9am–5pm Mon-Fri

Hillstone Fibre Arts Exhibition: The Arcade Pop-Up, 25 Princess of Wales Precinct, Dewsbury WF13 1NH, Opening Times: 10am-2pm Wed–Fri (until 30 June).

PARADOXICAL SYMMETRIES: Clear + Park

10th November to 10th December 2025
Bath House Gallert, Sovereign Design House, Queen Street South, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH
Open Monday to Friday 10.00am to 2.30pm
(10.am to 2.00pm on Saturday 22nd, 29th November)

This exhibition featured projects that use 3D scanning to create speculative architectural images that employ multiple symmetries to create geometrically complex works. One series of projects originates from scans of the Queensgate Market in Huddersfield, creating uncanny films and digital images through animating tracking paths which are reflected along the centre line of their horizontal axis.

A second series uses multiple scans of various architectural subjects to create enigmatic urban assemblages, rendered in a style reminiscent of Beaux-Arts compositions. Clear + Parks work has been exhibited internationally, and they recently won the RIBAJ Eye Line drawing competition for their scanned images.

During the exhibition Clear + Park gave tour of their exhibition to enable visitors to hear more about the work on show. This was followed by a lecture that developed on ideas that were mapped out in the special issue of the journal Architecture Image Studies, titled Digital Capture’, that was edited by Clear + Park. The lecture also covered work produced for their performance at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, the ‘Huddersfield Polytope’, part installation, part performance, which attempts to recreate the atmosphere of an Iannis Xenakis Polytope.

A collaboration between Dr Claire Barber and Guy McKelvey funded through an IAA award with support from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), UKRI, and the School of Arts and Humanities.

 

The Creative Loop Challenge invited us to look again at knitting and crochet — not just as traditional crafts, but as playful, inventive tools for exploring the world around us.

 

Developed by researchers Dr Claire Barber and Guy McKelvey at the University of Huddersfield, in partnership with the Knit and Crochet Guild, and with creative expertise from Research Assistant Dr Nicola Redmore, the project brings together children, families, volunteers, students, and educators to reimagine what knitting and crochet can be. Rather than focusing on finished objects, the project values experimentation, movement, scale, and curiosity as central to the creative process.

 

At the heart of the exhibition is the idea of the loop. Loops appear everywhere: in stitches, shoelaces, rope, architecture, drawing, and even in the way we move through buildings. During the workshops that led to this exhibition, participants were encouraged to notice loops and patterns in everyday spaces and respond creatively using a wide range of materials and techniques.

 

Movement played a key role throughout the work on display. Children used their bodies as tools - knitting with their fingers, drawing with handmade brushes, or creating marks through repeated actions. In other activities, the building itself became part of the making process. Columns, floors, and surfaces were used to attach long, colourful shoelaces in looping patterns, turning architecture into a creative partner rather than a backdrop.

 

You'll also have seen experiments with installation and paper sculpture, alongside works that explore reuse and transformation. Some of the tools displayed were made from repurposed knitted samples created by undergraduate students learning to knit -pieces that didn't work as intended but were reimagined as brush tips and mark-making tools. These works captured traces of movement and touch and highlight how mistakes and failures can become opportunities for creative play and experimentation.

 

Intergenerational exchange was developed during its early stages through collaboration with volunteers from the Knit and Crochet Guild and University of Huddersfield students. Student participants told us they wanted hands-on, real experiences - and the project grew directly from this insight.

 

The Creative Loop Challenge included workshops on the University of Huddersfield campus and in local schools, including Oak Primary School and Westborough High School. What you saw here is not a final outcome, but part of an ongoing process - a celebration of curiosity, collaboration, and creative risk-taking.

 

Fragile Systems was a dynamic exhibition of postgraduate projects from MA students presented in the Atrium of the Barbara Hepworth Building.

Bringing together postgraduate projects from animation, fashion, graphic design, interior design, and illustration, and more. The exhibition explored themes of vulnerability, interconnection, and resilience across creative disciplines. Fragile Systems celebrated bold experimentation, critical thinking, and the innovative practices shaping the next generation of designers and visual storytellers.

CHANGING THE NARRATIVE

A collaboration between Dr Claire Barber & Guy McKelvey

Funded through an IAA bid with support from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), UKRI, and the School of Arts and Humanities.

This project begins with a deceptively simple question: What happens to the textiles we never see — the seconds, the flawed items, the returns abandoned before they reach the consumer?
Working with Sole Responsibility, a Yorkshire-based SME that rescues unsold and returned clothing, we explore how garments deemed “waste” acquire new lives, new meanings, and new possibilities.

Two very different research approaches meet here.
Guy McKelvey, whose work sits at the intersection of fashion marketing and sustainability, investigates how stories of repair, reuse, and circular practice can shape consumer behaviour. Through seductive warehouse photography, playful straplines such as “Returns to a good home” or “Give seconds a second chance,” and campaigns that challenge viewers to “Spot the imperfection,” McKelvey reframes textile waste as desirable, valuable, and full of future potential.

Dr Claire Barber, working through textile-led creative practice, takes a radically different route. By burning, melting, and fusing discarded shoelaces onto dried heather, grasses, and stone, she exposes the petrochemical realities hidden within everyday objects. These altered materials — delicate, scarred, root-like — reveal how plastics mimic organic structures and quietly infiltrate natural systems. Her work sits in the space where the synthetic and organic entangle, disturb, or unexpectedly resonate.

Together, these perspectives do not merge into a single narrative. Instead, they form a productive tension.
McKelvey’s work communicates outward — designing messages that shift public perception of “waste.”
Barber’s work listens inward — attending to what materials themselves disclose when pushed to their limits.

The exhibition brings these approaches into conversation, offering two complementary ways of understanding the afterlives of textiles:
one through communication and re-valuation,
the other through transformation and material truth.

Changing the Narrative asks us to consider not only how textiles circulate through systems of commerce, but also how they seep into land, memory, and imagination — and how artistic and marketing practices, in their different languages, can work side-by-side to make these hidden processes visible.

Exquisite Corpse is the culmination of seven years of PhD research by Katrina Whitehead, Lecturer in Fashion Design, into femicide and the fetishisation of women, explored through visual and material culture, including fashion archives, photography and artists’ books.  

The exhibition focusses on the 1841 murder mystery of Mary Rogers, a young woman employed in a New York tobacconist shop and found strangled in the River Hudson. This case was sensationalised by the press as she was named “the beautiful cigar girl”.   

Investigating her effectively was only possible through the combination of dressmaking, collecting artefacts, taking photographs and bookmaking. This interdisciplinary practice approach tells the victim’s story through designing the dress and the bonnet. Using an empathetic method to gather fragments of information sourced from newspaper archives in America and True Crime magazines located in the Heritage Quay archives at the University of Huddersfield, the work recontextualises the usual discourse and challenges traditional views that glamorise the portrayal of women as picture-perfect victims. 

Town Island Exhibition Catalogue

Through textiles, sculpture, video, and painting, Matheson examines themes of place, identity, belonging and drawing on the 1950's migration of Carriacou's people to Britain. Building on cultural connections, Matheson has been able to develop his practice and engage with local communities in Huddersfield, UK and Carriacou, Grenada, through a series of research workshops. 

Key themes included culture, migration, the history of windrush and the recent environmental and community destruction cause by hurricane Beryl in the Caribbean. 

Opening times: Mon - Wed & Sat 11am - 4pm

Sovereign Design Galleries and Toast House Café, Queen Street South Annexe, Huddersfield, HD1 3DR 

Town Island was delivered in partnership with Yorkshire Contemporary, University of Huddersfield and the School of Arts and Humanities, Kirklees Council, Cultures of Creative Health and Cultures of Climate.

Town Island was funded by the UK Government, the British Council and Arts Council England.

 

One of the most important features of the School of Arts and Humanities is the support students and academics receive from the technical teams. These staff members are the unsung heroes of academia. Their expertise drives innovation in thinking and making across all subject areas, but these contributions are not always recognised for the valuable resource they are.

Many of our technical team are highly accomplished practitioners, and this group show features contributions from five members of technical staff who present work that showcases their amazing skills and ideas, bringing to life creative innovation in fashion, textiles, film and sculpture.

This exhibition is part of our Cultures of Climate programme for the academic year 2024-2025. The work on display foregrounds strategies and practices of re-using, re-making and re-thinking across a range of areas often involving everyday but extraordinary practices. Each piece explores how we can re-imagine and re-use materials in ways that are both innovative, ethical and aesthetic.

Themes encompass variations of traditional craft techniques, the spatial practices of walking, digital innovations with film and navigating contemporary innovation in the context of the climate crisis. 

Exhibition Opening Times:

Monday – Thursday & Saturday: 10am – 3pm

Friday: 10am – 2:30pm

(Closed Easter Bank Holiday Weekend)

 

Address: Sovereign Design House, Queen Street South Annexe, Huddersfield HD1 3DR.

Heavy Water is an art collective comprising Victoria Lucas, Maud Haya-Baviera and Joanna Whittle. Their long term artistic research project, established in 2020, responds creatively to traces of history, situating archive-based research in a contemporary context through the production of artworks. Heavy Water takes its name from D2O, a form of water used for the stabilisation of volatile matter. The materiality of Heavy Water is mystical; permeating organic bodies, calming violent creations, grounding and giving weight to something fluid and intangible. It is representative of their processes of investigation and methods of making, developed in response to shared subject matter.

Heavy Water Collective’s collaboration is distinctly curatorial. Artworks developed in parallel by the three artists are brought together in configurations that generate new insight that is relational and responsive to the archives and collections investigated. As part of the Cultures of Climate programme, Haya-Baviera, Lucas and Whittle will respond to the collections held at Heritage Quay and the West Yorkshire Archives Service, developing threads of research that, through sustained dialogue, will weave a network of meaning between the resulting artworks for an exhibition at Sovereign Design House in September 2025. 

The Heavy Water collective formed during a residency with the Freelands Foundation based at Site Gallery in Sheffield. It was at this time that the collective members discovered overlappings in their work and wider practices, particularly in their archive and collection based research in the production of new work. Since their first presentation at Site Gallery in 2021 they have gone on to work on numerous projects together as part of their galvanized practice through an ongoing commitment to their collective research ideologies.

To learn more about Heavy Water Collective, and each individual artist, please visit:

• Heavy Water Collective
• Maud Haya-Baviera
• Victoria Lucas
• Joanna Whittle

Cutting Waste, Creating Wonky explores the beauty of imperfection in fashion by presenting garments that challenge conventional design and pattern-cutting techniques. Reimagining traditional methods, the exhibition emphasizes fabric-efficient clothing, turning irregularities into positive design features to reduce fashion waste.

By altering grainlines and embracing unconventional pattern cuts, Cutting Waste, Creating Wonky pushes the boundaries of garment construction, blending experimental design with wearability. The exhibition showcases how innovative approaches can transform our understanding of fashion and sustainability.

Dr. Claire Evans, Senior Lecturer in Fashion at the University of Huddersfield, began her career in the 1990s designing garments in Moldgreen, Huddersfield. This exhibition traces her journey from traditional fashion to radical, waste-conscious design. Featuring pieces from her original fashion line alongside jersey cotton skirts that explore challenging fabric-efficient approaches, Cutting Waste, Creating Wonky celebrates creative resistance and responsible fashion innovation.

Cutting Waste, Creating Wonky is supported by Cultures of Climate and University of Huddersfield. It is in collaboration with WOVEN and Kirklees Museum and Galleries.

Exhibition Dates: Monday 26 May - Saturday 28 June
Exhibition Opening Times: Mon, 11am - 3pm, Tues - Thurs, 11am - 5pm, Sat & Sun, 12pm - 5pm
Address: The Tolson Museum, Ravensknowle Park, Wakefield Rd, Moldgreen, Huddersfield, HD5 8DJ

The Cultures of Climate Art Trail spans between Huddersfield and Dewsbury, with exhibitions exploring the role of art as an asset for social and environmental sustainability.

Recycle En Masse, exhibited in the Toast House Cafe, is a collection of printed reproductions of paintings and photographs depicting citizens of Dewsbury, with views of Shoddy and Mungo Mills. These images are part of the site-specific Cultures of Climate Arts Trail, between Huddersfield and Dewsbury, exploring the role of art as an asset for social and environmental sustainability. Visitors are invited to consider the current climate crisis, against the backdrop of the nineteenth and twentieth century production of Shoddy and Mungo - the earliest and largest example of recycled textile fabric. Instead of celebrating the industrial ingenuity, or scale of recycling, the photographs (by Fred Hartley) and townscapes (by Gerald Park and former Head of the School of Art in Huddersfield - Noël Spencer) help shine a light on the social contexts of the industry.

The Cultures of Climate Arts Trail 29 May – 19 June 2025

Recycle En Masse: Toast House Café, University of Huddersfield Queen St South Annexe, Huddersfield HD1 3DR. Opening times: 10am-3pm Mon-Thurs 10am-2:30pm Fri.

Soar Away (by Deborah Rundle): Dewsbury Town Hall, Wakefield Old Rd, Dewsbury WF12 8DG, Opening Times: 9am–5pm Mon-Fri

Hillstone Fibre Arts Exhibition: The Arcade Pop-Up, 25 Princess of Wales Precinct, Dewsbury WF13 1NH, Opening Times: 10am-2pm Wed–Fri (until 30 June).

View Virtual Exhibition on Artsteps

Cultures of Climate: Embedding Cultures of Climate into the Curriculum
An interdisciplinary exhibition from the University of Huddersfield, School of Arts and Humanities

The climate crisis is often framed through science and policy, but it is also a deeply human story, shaped by culture, history, language, and imagination. The arts and humanities have a vital role to play in how we understand, communicate, and respond to the challenges of a changing planet.

As we draw from lived experience, critical analysis, and creative expression, disciplines like literature, history, design, and visual art help us explore urgent questions about how societies experience environmental change – past and present; including how we can tell new stories about climate realities and envision alternative, more equitable practices and narratives, as well as thinking about sustainability in the context of making, designing, and building.

Through speculative futures, historical perspectives, and experimental practice, the arts and humanities offer tools to reimagine the world differently. They foster empathy, challenge assumptions, and create space for hope, reflection, and action. In a time of ecological urgency, creativity is not a luxury, but a necessity.

This exhibition showcases a dynamic range of creative, critical, and practice-based responses to the climate crisis, produced by students and staff across seven disciplines within the School of Arts and Humanities at the University of Huddersfield. Drawing on the collective strength of Photography, Architecture, Fashion and Textiles, Graphic Design, Contemporary Art and Illustration, History, and English Literature, the work on display represents a shared commitment to embedding cultures of climate into the university curriculum.

At the heart of this project is the belief that the climate breakdown is not just an environmental or scientific issue but a profound cultural challenge that touches every aspect of human life. The Cultures of Climate programme —supported by the Centre for Cultural Ecologies in Art, Design and Architecture — invites students to critically engage with climate issues through the lens of their own disciplines, fostering new ways of thinking, making, and communicating.

Contemporary Art and Illustration students explore their role as artists within the climate conversation. Through Studio Practice modules, they develop artworks that provoke reflection and encourage public dialogue around environmental change which situates the work within wider cultural debates.

In Fashion Design, the emphasis is on practical, sustainable solutions. Students engage in waste-efficient design and zero-waste pattern-cutting workshops, exploring techniques from modular design to visible mending. These hands-on sessions encourage an ethos of repair, reuse, and thoughtful production within the fashion industry.

English Literature students engage with eco-theory through creative and critical practice, responding to complex theoretical texts with storyboards, creative writing, and visual responses. Their work demonstrates how imaginative thinking can challenge existing narratives and open up new avenues for understanding the climate crisis.

In History, students explore how societies in the medieval and early modern periods experienced and responded to climate disruptions. These historical perspectives deepen our understanding of the long relationship between climate and human resilience, revealing how shifts in weather patterns shaped everything from disease to agriculture and fashion.

Architecture final-year students design a speculative ‘Museum of Climate’—a public space that reimagines how the built environment can educate, inspire, and activate community engagement around the climate breakdown. Their proposals highlight architecture’s potential to serve as both a physical and cultural catalyst for sustainable futures.

Graphic Design students respond to live briefs addressing climate challenges far and wide, from the local context of Kirklees and Yorkshire to the wider issues facing cultures around the world. Their work spans from sustainable packaging to ethical branding and political messaging, showcasing design’s potential to influence behaviours and raise awareness on pressing environmental issues.

Finally, second year Photography students use experimental, practice-led methods to visualise and translate everyday effects of climate impacts. Through lens-based media, they document the changing landscapes of daily life, revealing the often subtle but significant ways through which experiences of climate reflect our commonalities more than our differences.

Together, these diverse yet interconnected projects underscore the urgency of climate action and demonstrate the power of the arts and humanities to re-imagine and re-envision alternative futures. The Cultures of Climate exhibition is not only a celebration of student creativity and academic innovation, but also a call to rethink how we live, learn, and create, in an era of tumultuous and rapid change.

We thank all the course leaders and students who have been involved in this exhibition and look forward to further collaborations and opportunities. If you would like to find out more about Cultures of Climate and our forthcoming book publication, please contact: culturesof@hud.ac.uk 

Curatorial overview & Virtual Environment Design:

Dr Laura Mateescu & Dr Danilo Di Mascio

English Literature and History students engage with eco-theory through creative and critical practice, responding to complex theoretical texts with storyboards, creative writing, and visual responses. Their work demonstrates how imaginative thinking can challenge existing narratives and open up new avenues for understanding the climate crisis. Work features students across all year groups, but primarily comes from first year students on the Critical Thinking module.

Exhibition contributions were supervised by Dr Iona Murphy and Dr Joe Hopkinson.

Exhibition Dates: 30 June 2025 - 10 July 2025

Exhibition Times: Weekdays, 10am - 4pm

Address: Barbara Hepworth Building Mezzanine, University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH

Acting in the Middle: A Glossary of Encounter brings together artworks, artefacts and archival material made and gathered during and in response to recent explorations of the peatlands atop Kinder Scout. The exhibition forms part of a wider research project, Bleak Plateaus, which seeks to develop modes of representation and aesthetic activations suitable for exploring the lively multiplicities of the North Derbyshire peatlands, against the backdrop of climate breakdown and the urgent need for ethico-aesthetic repair.

Join David for an Artist Walkthrough of his exhibition on Wednesday 9 July or Friday 18 July, at 1pm - Book your Place

Exhibition Dates:

Friday 27 June - Saturday 19 July

Exhibition Opening Times:

Wednesday - Saturday, 10am - 3pm

Address: Sovereign Design House, Queen Street South Annexe, Huddersfield HD1 3DR.

View No patch of green too small Exhibition Catalogue

A solo exhibition titled "No patch of green too small" by Wakefield-based artist Helen Thomas held at the Sovereign Design House, University of Huddersfield.

No patch of green too small emerges at a significant moment in and beyond contemporary art, where critical questions surrounding the purpose of plants, their relationship with people and the planet are explored.

As a matter of climate emergency, we need to think differently about wild plants. Propelled by this acute awareness, artist Helen Thomas paints small patches of plants, green and otherwise, in their locales. Purposely focusing on incidental plants and organisms that grow haphazardly in the margins of our urban environment.

The forthcoming exhibition presents artworks of differing scales, including: new site-specific works depicting plants growing around the University of Huddersfield estate, works from previous shows, and those presented for the first time.

No patch of green too small, the exhibition and programme are part of Expanding Blended Curation, a research project led by Dr Janine Sykes (Lecturer, University of Huddersfield) who also works as the Curator (Visual Arts) at Huddersfield Art Gallery.

Helen Thomas No patch of green too small an exhibition, featuring special events listed below, runs from Friday 1 August 2025, until Wednesday 20 August 2025. The opening hours are - Wednesday to Saturday 10am – 3pm at Sovereign Design House, Queen Street South, Huddersfield HD1 3DR.

 

• Launch event with artist and curators, everyone welcome –Thurs 31 July, 4-7pm

 

• Exhibition walk-through with artist: Sat 2 August, 1pm

 

• Free Urban Postcard artist workshop (limited spaces): Sat 2 August, 2pm-3pm – Book Your Place

 

Heavy Water is an art collective comprising Maud Haya-Baviera, Victoria Lucas, and Joanna Whittle. Their long term collaborative project, established in 2020, responds creatively to traces of history, situating archive-based research in a contemporary context through the production of artworks. As part of the Cultures of Climate programme, Haya-Baviera, Lucas and Whittle have responded to collections held at Heritage Quay and the West Yorkshire Archives Service, developing threads of research that, through sustained dialogue, weave a network of meaning between the resulting artworks for their exhibition at Sovereign Design House.

Haya-Baviera’s work responds to archival materials dating from the Industrial Revolution to the 1980s. During her Culture of Climate residency, her attention has focussed on the intersection of medicine, natural sciences and beliefs. She has studied medicinal recipes, zoology books and agriculture guides with a particular interest in the exploitation of foreign lands, the use of non-native species and their impact on life. Undercurrents of anguish and hope infuse her work, bridging temporalities that shift any clear demarcations between past and present. Haya-Baviera's work is akin to myth making, as it devises symbolic representations that ask questions about our troubled times.

Lucas often engages with archival material through the geo­log­i­cal land­scapes they reference, as a process of making is initiated through site visits and her investigations of associated objects and sto­ries. In the West Yorkshire Archive Service, Lucas came across a report published as part of the Thornhill Colliery Explosion Inquest in 1893, following a gas explosion at Combs Pit in Dewsbury, in which 139 men and boys lost their lives. Using an archival photograph, in addition to a wealth of interrelated material found at Heritage Quay, Lucas has been exploring the site of the pit as it is today, feeling her way through the wild undergrowth that has taken over this landscape of trauma. 

Whittle’s work gathers many sources to construct a multilayered terrain of accumulated time and the residue of our being within it.  In her works resulting from the residency, she pulls together fragments from photographs from WW1 with images of ruins from Pompei; relocating both in dark pine forest, so together they form a site of ritual and ruin from an immemorial past. Combined with these, fragile postcards depicting trees from photographs of a tree planting ceremony on a housing estate in Dewsbury in 1962, become souvenirs of these oblique acts, whilst wooden panels inspired by a 1955 text on the ‘Imitation of Woods and Marbles’  depict fading structures in the landscape, overgrown and falling into this layered and unceasing narrative of time.

Exhibition Dates: Thursday 28 August - Thursday 18 September

Exhibition Times: Tuesday - Saturday, 10am - 3pm

Address: Sovereign Design House, Queen St South Annexe, Huddersfield, HD1 3DR

You can learn more by visiting:

• Heavy Water
• Maud Haya-Baviera
• Victoria Lucas
• Joanna Whittle

The climate crisis is often framed through science and policy, but it is also a deeply human story, shaped by culture, history, language, and imagination. The arts and humanities have a vital role to play in how we understand, communicate, and respond to the challenges of a changing planet.

As we draw from lived experience, critical analysis, and creative expression, disciplines like literature, history, design, and visual art help us explore urgent questions about how societies experience environmental change – past and present; including how we can tell new stories about climate realities and envision alternative, more equitable practices and narratives, as well as thinking about sustainability in the context of making, designing, and building.

Through speculative futures, historical perspectives, and experimental practice, the arts and humanities offer tools to reimagine the world differently. They foster empathy, challenge assumptions, and create space for hope, reflection, and action. In a time of ecological urgency, creativity is not a luxury, but a necessity.

This exhibition showcases a dynamic range of creative, critical, and practice-based responses to the climate crisis, produced by students and staff across seven disciplines within the School of Arts and Humanities at the University of Huddersfield. Drawing on the collective strength of Photography, Architecture, Fashion and Textiles, Graphic Design, Contemporary Art and Illustration, History, and English Literature, the work on display represents a shared commitment to embedding cultures of climate into the university curriculum.

At the heart of this project is the belief that the climate breakdown is not just an environmental or scientific issue but a profound cultural challenge that touches every aspect of human life. The Cultures of Climate programme —supported by the Centre for Cultural Ecologies in Art, Design and Architecture — invites students to critically engage with climate issues through the lens of their own disciplines, fostering new ways of thinking, making, and communicating.

Exhibition Opening Info:

Monday 22 September - Friday 24 October

Monday - Friday, 10am - 5pm

Barbara Hepworth Atrium & Mezzanine Galleries, Barbara Hepworth Building, University of, Queensgate, Huddersfield HD1 3DH

View Climate Ecologies Exhibition Handout

Climate Ecologies: Responses to the Panicocene brings together staff from the School of Arts and Humanities at the University of Huddersfield, who respond creatively to Elena Giacomelli’s concept of the Panicocene through the lenses of their disciplinary specialisms, including photography, architecture, videography, music, installation, and sculpture. It presents a constellation of visual works that interrogate the entangled crises of climate change and human mobility through the lenses of place, belonging, material culture, and activism. It responds to the critical questions raised by the concept of the Panicocene as an era where climate change and migration are framed in narratives of anxiety and emergency. In the Western dominant discourse, a politicized narrative of migration is often mixed with climate change and, as such, portrayed as a threat itself. In other words, when climate migration gains traction in media coverage, it is usually linked with security and risk issues rather than with efforts that reduce vulnerability to climate change effects. Mobilities under climate change may take many forms, which are contextually dependent and are shaped, at least in part, by existing relations of power and inequality. In dialogue with the conference’s critical interrogation of visual aesthetics and narrative, the exhibition explores how we can re-frame narratives of climate-mobilities through grounded, place-based stories, foregrounding the textures of lived experience, rather than the dominant tropes of threat and emergency. 

Exhibition Opening Info:

Saturday 27 September - Saturday 25 October

Monday - Friday, 10am - 2:30pm; Saturday 27 September & Saturday 25 October, 10am - 2:30pm

Sovereign Design House, Queen St South Annexe, Huddersfield HD1 3DR

Climate Ecologies: Responses to the Panicocene is a partnership between the Cultures of Climate programme- the fourth edition of the Cultures Of_ festival of place-based development, hosted by the Centre for Cultural Ecologies in Art, Design, and Architecture at The University of Huddersfield- and Dr Elena Giacomelli (Marie Curie Fellow, University of Bologna; Visiting Scholar, Columbia Climate School and Durham University). Projects respond to the Reimagining Climate (Im)mobilities in the Panicocene conference, co-organised by Giacomelli and Professor Andrew Baldwin (School of Geography, University of Durham), and developed with support from Cultures of Climate.

Reconnecting has its origins in a holistic humanities project which aimed to show that creative writing has benefits for wellbeing and reengagement with the education system. Over the span of six months, twelve young people worked together to produce a graphic novel exploring experiences of exclusion and inclusion. Across the project, we spent each week looking at a different theme to create stories. We started by reading graphic novels, thinking about inclusion and exclusion as concepts, moving to creating story mountains, creating a story, visualising the story, and ending with the production of a short film. Each story sees the words of the young people come to life through illustrations. The illustrations were done in a way that aligned with the young people’s vision. Some are in 8-bit style, some drawn by the young people themselves, some take inspiration from other graphic novels. The captions and dialogue are all the words of the young people. The project aimed to show that creative engagement is a productive way to promote inclusion for marginalised communities of young people. Not only is this a graphic novel that tells stories of experience, but shows educators what needs to change to make schools more inclusive. Stories include experiences with bullying, getting excluded from school, the impact of mental ill health on education, exam pressure, moving to a new school, and behaviour. The project rests upon principles of creative health and how creativity for wellbeing can be integrated into learning. The young people’s input and engagement provides real insight into the importance of creativity for reengagement with the education system that boxes young people in with a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.  

 

The project was undertaken in partnership with charity ReconnectEd and funded by UKRI AHRC. 

Honest Voices works with young people, giving them a creative platform to express their feelings and experiences about their place in the world right now.

 

Participants from a range of youth centres work with a rap artist to write music which reflects their thoughts and emotions about the place in which they live, how this environment affects them and how they perceive their place in the world at this point in time. This process allows them the opportunity to process their feelings, think critically about their sense of being, and express themselves in ways that might otherwise be difficult. They transform their emotions into powerful lyrical content, giving them a voice that resonates with others.

 

By collaborating with a filmmaker, they then capture imagery that represents their personal stories, and the raps are then created into short films that visually represent their words. Not only does this offer a valuable opportunity to learn about filmmaking and photography, but by integrating the written and visual aspects, they produce a creative piece that conveys their thoughts in a multi-dimensional way.

 

Visual artist led workshops then invite young people to transform plain denim jackets into personal canvases that reflect their thoughts, identities, and experiences. These 2D wearable art pieces are a form of storytelling, encouraging conversation and giving alternative, accessible ways for the young people to share their voices and perspectives in different forms.

This project aims to provide platforms for young people, from diverse backgrounds and experiences, to share their messages to wider audiences. The aim is make them feel empowered. You are a young citizen, whose lived experience, thoughts and feelings on where you live and how you feel, can and should be listened to. Your honest voices will be heard.

14 May 2026 - 12 June 2026, open Monday - Thursday, 10am - 3pm, Fridays, 10am - 2:30pm

The Postgraduate Research Showcase brings together a diverse body of postgraduate research from the School of Arts and Humanities at the University of Huddersfield, showcasing how contemporary academic practice can interrogate history, reimagine built environments, and explore deeply personal, social, and ecological narratives. The works demonstrate how research can extend beyond traditional academic formats, engaging audiences through installation, film, sound, and participatory experience.

Across the exhibition, research is presented as something material, sensory, and shared. Practices span experimental photography, moving image, spatial installation, sound, and site-responsive methods, often grounded in attentive processes such as walking, making, and embodied enquiry. These approaches open up ways of engaging with subjects that are difficult to access through conventional means alone, translating complex ideas into visual, tactile, and aural forms.

At its core, the exhibition reflects a commitment to questioning dominant narratives and uncovering overlooked perspectives. Historical enquiry is revisited through critical and speculative lenses, inviting audiences to consider how cultural assumptions shape what is remembered, believed, and retold. Elsewhere, design-led research responds to urgent contemporary conditions, proposing adaptive and participatory approaches to the built environment that foreground sustainability, social need, and future change.

Themes of participation and self-reflection run throughout the exhibition. Visitors are invited to encounter the works not as passive observers, but as active participants—through movement, interpretation, and, at times, direct contribution. Creative practice is positioned as a means of exploring emotional, psychological, and social experience, offering space for reflection, connection, and personal meaning-making.

The exhibition also engages with more-than-human systems, drawing attention to the often unseen processes that sustain life. Through experimental and interdisciplinary methods, elements such as soil, sound, and biological activity are translated into sensory experiences. In doing so, the works open a dialogue between creative practice and scientific enquiry, encouraging reflection on our relationship to wider ecological networks.

Together, these projects highlight the breadth and depth of postgraduate research within the School of Arts and Humanities. It is particularly exciting to see this level of inquiry and experimentation among postgraduate researchers, as they embrace uncertainty and take risks in presenting research through creative and experiential forms that both complement and challenge more conventional academic modes.

A major new international exhibition, Post Office Cultures, opens at the Bath House Gallery, Sovereign Design House at the University of Huddersfield, running from Monday 29 June to 2 September 2026. 

This exhibition invites visitors to explore the histories, memories and meanings of post offices in the UK and India through creative scanning practices, research and community collaboration.  

About the Exhibition 

Post Office Cultures is an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded project developed through a university partnership between the University of Huddersfield (UK) and World University of Design (India).  

The exhibition presents work by researchers, artists and communities from Dewsbury, Huddersfield, Shimla and Delhi. Through creative methods including 3D digital laser scanning, filmmaking, letter writing, sound recording, oral histories and podcasting, the project presents new ways of understanding place and local connection. These creative methods help to surface voices and experiences that are often overlooked. They also connect traditional heritage practices with contemporary digital tools and processes. 

Aligned with the India–UK 2030 Roadmap, the project responds to shared priorities around cultural collaboration and creative innovation. Post offices are positioned as sites of living heritage intersecting with local creative ecologies.  

By foregrounding stories of community, place, migration, work and lived experience, the project connects place-based heritage with the rapidly evolving digital and creative sectors in both countries. In doing so, it highlights the potential of the Creative and Cultural Industries and heritage to work together to co-create new forms of knowledge and cultural exchange between the UK and India. 

Creative Methods  

Visitors will encounter a mix of media and participation: 

• Creative scanning and 3D visualisations transform the architecture of post office buildings into digital artefacts. 

• Film and audio-visual storytelling bring post office spaces and work practices to life.  

• Letter writing and postcard elicitation capture personal memories to creatively reimagine the post office, past, present and future. 

• Sound recordings and “sonic postcards” explore the sensory atmospheres of the post office. 

• Oral histories and podcasts share local stories connected to migration, community and cultural exchange. 

Together, these approaches highlight how knowledge is created through social exchange, experimentation and collaboration. 

Get Involved: Tours, Workshops and Activities 

Alongside the exhibition, visitors are invited to take part in a wide range of free activities, workshops and guided tours - Find Out More & Book

Exhibition Tours 

Join guided tours running across July to explore how the exhibition brings post office memories to life through creative methods and community stories. Each session lasts approximately one hour and is open to all - Find Out More & Book

Workshops 

As part of South Asian Heritage Month, visitors are invited to get involved in a range of creative activities and workshops exploring shared stories of post office cultures across the UK and India. From hands-on making and storytelling to using digital and audio methods, these sessions offer engaging and accessible ways to connect with the exhibition and its themes - Find Out More & Book

Find Out More and Book through Eventbrite 

All events are free, but advance booking is required. 

To find out more about the exhibition, upcoming activities, and to reserve your place: 

Eventbrite sign-ups: Post Office Cultures Workshop and Events

Learn more about the project: Post Office Cultures – University of Huddersfield 

Email: postofficecultures@hud.ac.uk 

Location and Access 

📍 Bath House Gallery, Sovereign Design House, University of Huddersfield 

Visitors should arrive at the entrance of the Sovereign Design House for tours and workshops. The gallery space is accessible and located on the ground floor, with seating available on request and support for access requirements where needed. 

Opening Times 

Monday – Thursday and Saturdays, 10am – 3pm 

Fridays, 10am – 2:30pm 

Exhibition Preview: Thursday 30 July, 4-7pm 

Funding 

This project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC): AH/Z507064/1 under the official title: Delivering Heritage: a creative scanning approach to investigating post offices in the UK and India. Learn more about the project: Post Office Cultures – University of Huddersfield 

Project team: Professor Rowan Bailey, Professor Nic Clear, Professor Shaleen Sharma, Professor Sanjay Gupta, Dr Xiaolu Wang, Dr Rajat Verma and Arzoo Kadian. 

Collaborators 

Our work is enriched through collaboration with a range of artists, musicians, writers, students, educators and community contributors, including: Ruby Jones, Supriya Nagarajan, Duncan Chapman, Hardeep Sahota, Kevin Boniface, Laura Mateescu, Mike Mawson and the volunteers at Dewsbury Arcade, Qaisar Mahmood and Radio Sangam, Greenhead College A-Level students (Enrichment Programme), Adele Vevers, Pam Suman, Milen Care, Batley, Hemen Galal. These collaborations reflect the project’s commitment to co-creative practice, skills sharing, and transcultural learning. 

Our thanks to our official partners: 

INTACH (India), Postal Museum, London, Bagshaw Museum (Kirklees Council), Kirklees, Radio Sangam, University of Huddersfield, World University of Design (India)