Report by Eloïse Morant,
MA Interior and Spatial Design, Chelsea
Photographs by Unai Matteo Lopez, LCC
That’s it, the cycle comes to an end.
Exactly one year ago, in September 2017, I came for the first time at the Chelsea College of Arts as a future MA Interior and Spatial Design student, on the occasion of the PG Community Mixer event. There, among alumni and future postgraduates from different courses and colleges across UAL, I met my first classmates. After a brief introduction, we were dispatched in groups of specialities, and led on tours of the current students’ degree show, where I had the chance to see their year’s work and make a better idea of what would be expected from me a year later, and to start to feel part of the life of my school.
This year, on Tuesday, September 11th 2018, I lived the event on the other side, the one of the Student Ambassador I became by working several events with the uni during the year. I again went on a tour of the current students’ degree show, but this time I was the one leading the tour and exhibiting my work. It was my turn to give the chance to a future MA student to see a year’s worth of reflexion and experimentation, to facilitate a chat with current students, my classmates, who gave insights on their work but also on the life of a student of Master at Chelsea.
The atmosphere of the event was very informal, which allowed the attendees to simply enjoy drinks and conversations with new people, and to appreciate the degree show, with even a performance held by one of the MA Fine Arts student. I think this event is a very good first toe dipped in UAL’s flow of events and people, and to start making connexions without the usual barrier of colleges or sections. For me, meeting classmates made the whole experience of starting my master more real, and I avoided the loneliness of the first few days that you usually have when you start in a new environment. I encourage people to attend the event, as alumni, student ambassadors or future postgraduate students, for this gathering to remain a special bubble of the postgraduate community coming together during the MA summer show, and to tighten the web of links one can create during art studies.
See Eloïse Morant’s work on Vimeo and instagram @curiouselo