CAMPUS Independent Study Programme

CAMPUS is a year-long and city-wide independent study programme in curatorial, visual and cultural studies, based on collaborative knowledge production and innovative research practices. CAMPUS is a free-to-attend programme of monthly closed-door gatherings and free public talks. Taking place in different locations in Nottingham (Nottingham Contemporary, Primary, Bonington, Backlit), CAMPUS welcomes participants from different backgrounds who wish to engage in conversations about contemporary debates and further explore interdisciplinary practices. CAMPUS is a space of encounter between researchers, practitioners, activists, scholars, institutions and organisations.

The forum is open to 20 participants, selected via an open call (Jan-Mar 2019). The programme starts in October and runs for 9 months. As part of CAMPUS, participants will devise and deliver a collective curatorial project throughout the year at Nottingham Contemporary, with the support of a guest artist, the guest speakers, and Nottingham Contemporary curators. Alongside the closed seminars and public lectures, guest artist Céline Condorelli supports the participants to deliver the collective project in response to the year-long conversations and reflections.

In 2019-2020, CAMPUS looks at critical pedagogy and explores questions around alternative modes of education and how we learn and produce knowledge collectively. It takes the centenary of the Bauhaus as a prompt to investigate the educational role of cultural organisations and to experiment new ideas. Given the disinvestment in creative subjects in schools, cultural education and consequently creativity and critical thinking need to find new forums and space for refuge. CAMPUS invites colleagues and participants to join us in asking questions about education, its role and legacies, as well as proposing and performing new models.