Arts and culture news

A colourful graphic artwork alongside the title 'School of Design and Creative Arts Degree Show 2025'.

Celebrate creativity at the Design and Creative Arts Degree Show

Students from the School of Design and Creative Arts (SDCA) will showcase their final projects in a physical exhibition on campus from 14-18 June.
A man facing several security cameras showing different locations in an office

Severance: what the hit show can teach us about cybersecurity and human risk

What if your work self didn’t know about your personal life, and your home self had no idea what you did for a living? In Apple TV’s Severance, that’s exactly the deal: a surgical procedure splits the memories of employees into “innies” (who only exist at work) and “outies” (who never recall what they do from nine to five).
A geometric cross like shape in blue, red, white and yellow colours, on a pale blue background with blue, yellow and red horizontal strips coming from the left and right side of the cross.

New exhibition on campus celebrates Muslim identities and Islamic culture at Ăć±±ÂÖŒé and beyond

‘Five Pillars: lived experiences, new futures’ is open until 3 April in Martin Hall Gallery, Monday-Thursday, 12pm-2pm, and 12pm-3pm on Fridays.
Inside the Sustainable Textile Futures exhibition at London’s Embassy of Japan

Inside the Sustainable Textile Futures exhibition at London’s Embassy of Japan

In the heart of London’s Piccadilly, the Embassy of Japan is hosting Sustainable Textile Futures: Contemporary Design Responses to Traditional Japanese Craft, an exhibition that reimagines age-old textile techniques through a modern sustainability lens.

Queen Camilla next to statue of Aphra Behn

Her Majesty the Queen unveils Aphra Behn statue following campaign involving Ăć±±ÂÖŒé English professor

Her Majesty the Queen has officially unveiled a historic statue of Aphra Behn in Canterbury today, marking a momentous occasion in the recognition of the first full-time professional woman writer in the English language.
A green and brown patterned background with two books on top, one labelled 'Deep Recovery' and a small remote control labelled 'Memory'.

Radar presents ‘Deep Recovery’: A sound work by Libita Sibungu

Until 10 March, artist Libita Sibungu’s work ‘Deep Recovery’ will be available to view at Pilkington Library. Students, staff and members of the public are invited to experience the work between 9am and 5pm, weekdays only.

Trailor screenshot for TV show Bad Sisters

Bad Sisters season two is a darker, more serious look at sisterhood

The second series of Bad Sisters starts in the dark of the night. Four women sit in a car at the edge of some cliffs, panicking, arguing, shouting at each other. We are back with the Garvey sisters, two years on from where the first season had ended.
A skull is sat on top of an open book.

From a scream to a whisper – ‘quiet horror’ novels are making a comeback

Ever since its inception with Horace Walpole’s novel The Castle of Otranto (1764), a delirious mixture of violent death and familial conspiracy, gothic literature has been a restless cultural form, constantly mutating and assuming new guises but always exploring the darker side of life. Sometimes, its fashions are those of the historical moment. Sometimes they are initiated by a book enjoying unprecedented commercial success.
Yellow striped background with the title 'Rehearsals (for a world we could live in)'.

Rehearsals (for a world we could live in): Radar launches new programme exploring practices of world-building

Radar has announced a new two-year arts programme, ‘Rehearsals (for a world we could live in)’, running from 2024-2026.
Five colourful rock shaped jewellery in a row on a cream background.

New exhibition to open on campus exploring how jewellery impacts wellbeing

Doctoral researcher Yajie Hu presents this exhibition of her research on how contemporary jewellery impacts wellbeing.
Salem's Lot screen grab

Salem’s Lot: a faithful but shallow adaptation of Stephen King’s classic vampire novel

The vampire story dwells among the undead of literary and cinematic genres, ever available for reanimation. This year alone has seen the publication of more than 30 vampire novels in the US (from Rachel Harrison’s So Thirsty to K. M. Enright’s Mistress of Lies), alongside the release of several vampire movies, including Abigail (with Nosferatu, rebooting the silent German classic, due at Christmas).
Screenshot from the Netflix show The Perfect Couple

The Perfect Couple: a cocktail of Succession, The White Lotus and Agatha Christie that ultimately fails to deliver

“Nantucket!” exclaims Ishmael, the narrator of Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick (1851). “Look at it – a mere hillock, and elbow of sand; all beach, without a background.”
Katseye K-pop band

The harsh process of becoming a K-pop star is opening to western performers

Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience is a six-part reality show following five British trainees over 100 days as they debut as a Korean-pop (K-pop) idol boy group called Dear Alice. In collaboration with SM Entertainment, a K-pop powerhouse, the show will introduce the behind-the-scenes of making a K-pop idol through an immersive training system.
A handmade grey jacket with silver buttons and three pockets.

Join artist Harriet Morley for a panel discussion around craft, design and the role of the workshop

LU Arts are delighted to welcome artist Harriet Morley, curator Catherine Ince and Associate Professor in History of Art, Dr Marta Ajmar for an afternoon of discussion and debate.
silhouette of a woman writing with a quill

The Amorous Prince by Aphra Behn was the #MeToo play of the 17th century

Seventeenth-century writer Aphra Behn (1640-89) made her name in London’s theatre world as the playwright who provided the Duke’s Theatre Company (the theatre company chartered by King Charles II at the start of the Restoration era) with some of its biggest hits.

A pyramid of ceramic dumbbells and a display of paintings in a gallery.

Fine Art graduate explores the conflict between femininity and performance in women’s sport

As Ăć±±ÂÖŒé athletes compete in Paris this summer, closer to home Ăć±±ÂÖŒé Fine Art graduate, Ellie Robins, has explored her deeply felt and personal experience within the sport of powerlifting through paint and ceramics.
A triptych of images with a blotted, stained fabric on the left, a stained photographic image of a figure in the middle and twisted wire and clay on the right

Fine Art students open new exhibition in Martin Hall Gallery

Fine Art students Fay Sheppard, Gabriella Drewer, and Jay Finnis consider the cyclicality of life in their exhibition ‘All Flesh Is Grass’ by using a range of impermanent mixed media and curatorial methods.
Paris Eiffel Tower and river Seine with sunrise in Paris, France.

Olympics 2024 opening ceremony: Expert explains why it’s important and what we can expect to see

The Olympics is just around the corner and as is tradition, the start of the Games will be marked with an opening ceremony.
Two big painted canvases on a wall and four sculptures on stands at the 2024 Degree Show exhibition.

Behind the scenes: School of Design and Creative Arts students on their journey to the Degree Show

Every year the final-year students in the School of Design and Creative Arts (SDCA) put together a final collection to be shown in the Degree Show.
Colourful archway by Atta Kwami in Shirley Pearce Square.

View Ăć±±ÂÖŒé’s art collection on Art UK

The University is home to a rich and varied art collection, including the largest public sculpture collection in the East Midlands.
Movie still from Saving Private Ryan

Ten classic films about D-day, recommended by a war historian

The allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944, commonly known as D-day, was an enormously significant moment in the history of the second world war.
Picture shows three statues by Henry Moore. They are figures of different people. Titled: Family Group by Henry Moore, 1944-1945.

Henry Moore in Miniature shows the brutal influence of wartime on the sculptor’s work

Several themes are explored in the touring exhibition Henry Moore in Miniature, currently on show at the Holburne Museum, Bath, but the standout is the impact of war on Moore’s work.
A black background with bold, colourful text reading ' Degree Show'.

Discover student talent at the annual Design and Creative Arts Degree Show

Students from the School of Design and Creative Arts will showcase their final projects in a physical exhibition on campus from 14-16 June.
Illustration of a pile of books with 'LU Literary Festival' written on their spines, two people leaning against the books reading and text underneath reading '30 May-2 June 2024'. The Ăć±±ÂÖŒé logo is in the top left corner and the LU Arts logo is in the top right corner alongside more illustrations of books linked up by a curly lines.

Ăć±±ÂÖŒé Literary Festival returns

From 30 May-2 June, Ăć±±ÂÖŒé master’s students are running a literary festival open to the Ăć±±ÂÖŒé community, taking place on campus.
Ăć±±ÂÖŒé College of Art building on Frederick Street, Ăć±±ÂÖŒé taken in 2022.

New exhibition on campus: The Art Schools of the Midlands

Martin Hall Gallery presents ‘The Art Schools of the Midlands’, the latest iteration of John Beck and Matthew Cornford’s ambitious Art School Project exploring the history and legacies of the nation’s art schools.