IGNITE launches online platform to showcase arts students and graduates

A virtual festival showcasing the skills and talents of arts and humanities students and graduates in the city has gone ‘live’.

IGNITE – which brings together the University of Plymouth and Plymouth College of Art – will provide an online celebration of the degree work of final-year undergraduates across the spectrum of courses, from Fine Art to Photography; Animation to Architecture; Performing Arts to Product Design.

The site is also serving to bring together emerging talent, Plymouth’s creative community, industry and the public to ‘ignite’ economic growth, productivity and employment. In particular, it will enable employers and the public to search for students and graduates in specific disciplines, and to view, watch and listen to the latest topics from Plymouth’s creative institutions, local practitioners and key economic partners.

Professor Chris Bennewith, Head of the School of Art, Design and Architecture, said the city had been due to celebrate the inaugural IGNITE Festival of Creativity this month until COVID-19 forced it to be shelved until 2021. The University’s own Arts Degree Show, a constituent of the Festival, similarly had to be cancelled this year.

“It has been well documented that COVID-19 presents a very serious challenge to our creative industries,” Professor Bennewith said. “It has also affected our students, many of whom have been unable to access studios and, in some cases, their final year projects. The summer has historically been a time of celebration and showcase for their talent and hard work of our graduating students – both at the University and across the city – and I’m delighted that through the IGNITE website we can at least preserve that tradition in an online format, and provide them with a platform upon which to shine.”

Each week, new student showcases will be added to and featured on the website. These include: