University of Bolton art students chosen for Venice fellowships

Second-year BA Fine Art students, Natasha Mitchell and Abbie Detheridge will spend a month in Italy as part of the Venice Biennale Student Fellowships for 2019, during one of the world’s most important art and architecture Biennale exhibitions.

The opportunity to conduct independent research in and around Venice has been sponsored by Bolton School of the Arts and the British Council. Both Natasha and Abbie will receive training on exhibition invigilation, access, stewarding and condition checking of artwork. They will also be able to network with creative peers across the UK and the international art world. Fellows share their time between invigilation of the British Pavilion exhibition and independent research. The themes of the individual research projects are guided by the focus of the Biennale and the exhibition and can be steered by university interests and course links.

The 2019 Venice Biennale curator Ralph Rugoff has announced the title, May You Live in Interesting Times. He said: “The exhibition takes art’s potential seriously as a method for looking into things we do not already know – things that may be off-limits, under-the-radar, or otherwise inaccessible.” The British Council has commissioned artists to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale to celebrate the best of emerging and established British art since 1937. Artists representing Britain have included: Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Ben Nicholson, Anthony Caro, Bridget Riley, Richard Long, Frank Auerbach, Howard Hodgkin, Barry Flanagan, Anish Kapoor, Richard Hamilton, Rachel Whiteread, Leon Kossoff, Gary Hume, Mark Wallinger, Gilbert & George, Tracey Emin, Steve McQueen, Mike Nelson, Jeremy Deller, Sarah Lucas and Phyllida Barlow. Congratulations to both Natasha and Abbie!

For further information please contact: Alan Buckingham Programme Leader Art School of the Arts University of Bolton Deane Road Bolton BL3 5AB Tel:01204 903378 Email: A.Buckingham@bolton.ac.uk