Student Symposium
Student Symposium
Art history students and arts professionals
Student Symposium
Student Symposium
Art history students and arts professionals
On 29 October, art history students and arts professionals from the University of Manchester, the Whitworth and Castlefield Gallery gathered for a symposium that promised intellectual generosity and creativity. Sponsored by the Friends of the Whitworth (FOW), the event set out to share creativity and knowledge, over the course of fourteen talks.
The session opened at 2pm with a warm welcome from Emily Hargreaves, a second-year student and FOW student ambassador. Emily’s words framed the event as a showcase of student research, professional advice, but mainly a site to bridge art, ideas and community.
Student Verity Burton began by exploring Maria Sibylla Merian’s Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium (1705), Plate 18. Burton enthusiastically unpacked the plate’s portrayal of a guava tree teeming with insects from Suriname, a Dutch colony at the time. Discussing Merian’s unique choice to display insects interactively with their floral counterparts, Burton noted that this microcosmic approach contradicted scientific studies that isolated creatures from contexts and foreshadowed today’s ecological debates. Her emphasis on Merian’s ‘empathetic approach’ toward the natural world, and her self-funded voyage to Suriname, lent the talk both an ecological depth and feminist resonance.
From the ecological to the ethereal, student Eki Yiyang Wu transported the audience to 12th-century China with A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains (c.1113) by Ximeng Wang. Painted by the 18-year-old ‘prodigy’, the 12 metre-long scroll’s sweeping blue-green dreamscape offers what Yiyang Wu called ‘a philosophical vision of immortality’. She noted that the ‘spirit’ of the piece was what makes it memorable for her. Her reading was of a flowing narrative, like a journey filled with snippets of different stories, such as a bustling fishing village, a climb into majestic mountains and arrival at a thunderous waterfall.
Next, Friend of the Whitworth Joan Gem shared an engaging brief history of the Friends’ organisation, founded by Margaret Pilkingon in 1933. Gem encouraged the audience to look into similar ‘Friends’ schemes in their own communities – a fitting call to action given the event’s communal spirit.
Leni Cadle’s student talk on Alberto Giacometti’s Woman with Her Throat Cut (1932) shifted tone dramatically. Cadle’s lyrical analysis, drawn from a personal encounter with the sculpture at the Barbican, wove together reflections of violence, surrealism, and the male gaze. Her conclusion placed emphasis on the work’s curatorial framing, which transformed its violence from an erotic spectacle to a revelation on the sculpture’s brutality.
From surrealism to performance, student Julia Kozbial turned to Marina Abramovic’s Balkan Erotic Epic (2025), which she had seen recently at Manchester Aviva Studios. Kozbial argued that the nudity present in the work is separated from lust and instead called to the sacredness of the body in enacting ‘transgression, not pleasure’. Her emphasis on the distinction between nudity and sexuality persuasively framed Balkan Erotic Epic as a reclamation of Balkan identity rather than provocation.
Turning back to the Whitworth, Olga Gribben, Development and Stakeholder Manager, offered a refreshing, practical view of her behind-the-scenes gallery work – fundraising, stewardship and the day-to-day reality of keeping spaces like the Whitworth open to all. Her own path from architecture to arts management was a comforting reminder to students of the non-linear trajectories that often define creative careers.
After refreshments and some busy networking, the theme of creative careers continued with Kacey Stonnell, Gallery and Volunteer Coordinator at Castlefield Gallery. A Manchester art history alumna, Stonnell spoke with an honesty about accessibility in the arts, informed by her own experience of working with adults with disabilities. ‘Figure out the space you want to carve out for yourself’ was Stonnell’s rallying cry to students during their time at University and beyond.
Student Priya Leefield transported us to India in Arpita Singh’s Devi Pistol Wali (1990), a lush, symbolically rich painting, which Leefield described as both ‘serene and resilient’. Her interpretation of the central female figure as an embodiment of goddess Kali, surrounded by blossoms and mangoes, but also challenging two men, explained persuasively the artist’s blending of mythology and lived experience in a single plane.
From India to Italy, student Maariya Duad discussed Titian’s Bacchanal of the Andrians (1523–26). What seems a scene of carefree revelry became, for Daud, a study in beauty and indulgence, provoking a dilemma surrounding decadence, in which the image is unstable in is its intellectual connections.
Jack Barraclough, in the final student talk, framed Andy Warhol’s Thirteen Most Wanted Men (1964), as a ‘lesser known but most controversial’ work. He discussed Warhol’s mural as a silent statement on the criminalisation of homosexuality, which invited questions about viability, politics and queerness.
Jason Lau, the Whitworth’s Public Engagement and Audiences Assistant, brought the focus back to community. He spoke about the role of storytelling in his work, including in the creation of digital initiatives. He pointed, also, to the importance of fostering dialogue in engagement work, to finding out what makes people ‘tick’.
Imogen Holmes-Roe, Curator of Historic Art at the Whitworth, closed the symposium by tracing her own journey through the museum sector. She spoke warmly of the value of mentoring and participation and referenced the recent (Un)Defining Queer exhibition as an example of curatorial inclusivity in practice.
To close, Anne Mackinnon, Chair of FOW, praised the ‘bravery and fascination’ of the student speakers, and thanked the event organisers and all who contributed to the symposium.
Lucie Bellingham
Third-year Art History and English Student
10 November 2025
On 29 October, art history students and arts professionals from the University of Manchester, the Whitworth and Castlefield Gallery gathered for a symposium that promised intellectual generosity and creativity. Sponsored by the Friends of the Whitworth (FOW), the event set out to share creativity and knowledge, over the course of fourteen talks.
The session opened at 2pm with a warm welcome from Emily Hargreaves, a second-year student and FOW student ambassador. Emily’s words framed the event as a showcase of student research, professional advice, but mainly a site to bridge art, ideas and community.
Student Verity Burton began by exploring Maria Sibylla Merian’s Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium (1705), Plate 18. Burton enthusiastically unpacked the plate’s portrayal of a guava tree teeming with insects from Suriname, a Dutch colony at the time. Discussing Merian’s unique choice to display insects interactively with their floral counterparts, Burton noted that this microcosmic approach contradicted scientific studies that isolated creatures from contexts and foreshadowed today’s ecological debates. Her emphasis on Merian’s ‘empathetic approach’ toward the natural world, and her self-funded voyage to Suriname, lent the talk both an ecological depth and feminist resonance.
From the ecological to the ethereal, student Eki Yiyang Wu transported the audience to 12th-century China with A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains (c.1113) by Ximeng Wang. Painted by the 18-year-old ‘prodigy’, the 12 metre-long scroll’s sweeping blue-green dreamscape offers what Yiyang Wu called ‘a philosophical vision of immortality’. She noted that the ‘spirit’ of the piece was what makes it memorable for her. Her reading was of a flowing narrative, like a journey filled with snippets of different stories, such as a bustling fishing village, a climb into majestic mountains and arrival at a thunderous waterfall.
Next, Friend of the Whitworth Joan Gem shared an engaging brief history of the Friends’ organisation, founded by Margaret Pilkingon in 1933. Gem encouraged the audience to look into similar ‘Friends’ schemes in their own communities – a fitting call to action given the event’s communal spirit.
Leni Cadle’s student talk on Alberto Giacometti’s Woman with Her Throat Cut (1932) shifted tone dramatically. Cadle’s lyrical analysis, drawn from a personal encounter with the sculpture at the Barbican, wove together reflections of violence, surrealism, and the male gaze. Her conclusion placed emphasis on the work’s curatorial framing, which transformed its violence from an erotic spectacle to a revelation on the sculpture’s brutality.
From surrealism to performance, student Julia Kozbial turned to Marina Abramovic’s Balkan Erotic Epic (2025), which she had seen recently at Manchester Aviva Studios. Kozbial argued that the nudity present in the work is separated from lust and instead called to the sacredness of the body in enacting ‘transgression, not pleasure’. Her emphasis on the distinction between nudity and sexuality persuasively framed Balkan Erotic Epic as a reclamation of Balkan identity rather than provocation.
Turning back to the Whitworth, Olga Gribben, Development and Stakeholder Manager, offered a refreshing, practical view of her behind-the-scenes gallery work – fundraising, stewardship and the day-to-day reality of keeping spaces like the Whitworth open to all. Her own path from architecture to arts management was a comforting reminder to students of the non-linear trajectories that often define creative careers.
After refreshments and some busy networking, the theme of creative careers continued with Kacey Stonnell, Gallery and Volunteer Coordinator at Castlefield Gallery. A Manchester art history alumna, Stonnell spoke with an honesty about accessibility in the arts, informed by her own experience of working with adults with disabilities. ‘Figure out the space you want to carve out for yourself’ was Stonnell’s rallying cry to students during their time at University and beyond.
Student Priya Leefield transported us to India in Arpita Singh’s Devi Pistol Wali (1990), a lush, symbolically rich painting, which Leefield described as both ‘serene and resilient’. Her interpretation of the central female figure as an embodiment of goddess Kali, surrounded by blossoms and mangoes, but also challenging two men, explained persuasively the artist’s blending of mythology and lived experience in a single plane.
From India to Italy, student Maariya Duad discussed Titian’s Bacchanal of the Andrians (1523–26). What seems a scene of carefree revelry became, for Daud, a study in beauty and indulgence, provoking a dilemma surrounding decadence, in which the image is unstable in is its intellectual connections.
Jack Barraclough, in the final student talk, framed Andy Warhol’s Thirteen Most Wanted Men (1964), as a ‘lesser known but most controversial’ work. He discussed Warhol’s mural as a silent statement on the criminalisation of homosexuality, which invited questions about viability, politics and queerness.
Jason Lau, the Whitworth’s Public Engagement and Audiences Assistant, brought the focus back to community. He spoke about the role of storytelling in his work, including in the creation of digital initiatives. He pointed, also, to the importance of fostering dialogue in engagement work, to finding out what makes people ‘tick’.
Imogen Holmes-Roe, Curator of Historic Art at the Whitworth, closed the symposium by tracing her own journey through the museum sector. She spoke warmly of the value of mentoring and participation and referenced the recent (Un)Defining Queer exhibition as an example of curatorial inclusivity in practice.
To close, Anne Mackinnon, Chair of FOW, praised the ‘bravery and fascination’ of the student speakers, and thanked the event organisers and all who contributed to the symposium.
Lucie Bellingham
Third-year Art History and English Student
10 November 2025
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