Welcome to RAAD
Welcome to the blog for RAAD - the Centre for Research in Art and Design at Birmingham City University. We are a community of artists, designers, makers, thinkers and writers. We believe that creative practice in art, architecture, and design matters and that it can make a difference - transforming individuals, communities, and society. In our research we collaborate, explore, and share knowledge in order to make a difference.
Living with the Grid
What does it take to make electricity visible? Not in the engineering sense with the diagrams, load curves and transmission maps, but in the fuller sense of rendering it perceptible as a force which is political, material, and unevenly powered? This question ran as a constant through all three sessions of Grid Imaginaries, a three part event series organised by Theo Reeves-Evison and Becky Shaw.
Baskerville, as its creator intended
A new digital revival of the Baskerville typeface, developed through a unique collaboration between researchers, heritage specialists and typeface designers, has been officially launched, offering the most historically accurate interpretation of John Baskerville's celebrated eighteenth-century type. RAAD researchers Caroline Archer and Ann-Marie Carey have been central to the project.
Thread the Loom
Zoe Hillyard, Senior Lecturer BA(Hons) Textile Design and RAAD researcher, reflects here on a joint project between textiles students and Ikon Gallery in Birmingham.
Programme for JOIN
The programme is now available for our 2026 conference Join: Crafting Conversations with Communities on 1 July. Our 2026 conference focuses on how participatory art, craft and design practices are understood in relation to shifting institutional, social, and economic conditions today. We are really looking forward to welcoming artists, makers, and writers to join our conversation.
Global Surrealist Photography
I’ve been fortunate enough to receive joint funding from the Association of Art Historians and RAAD for a week-long trip to archives and libraries in Paris. In this project, I aim to combine unpublished elements of my PhD thesis with new research to form a monograph entitled Global Surrealist Photography: A Cosmopolitan Lens…
11 Mile NearFuture Pluriversity
From 13-16 March 2026 RAAD researchers Becky Shaw and Cathy Wade took part in the 11 Mile NearFuture Pluriversity - a group of artists, researchers, educators, planners and historians working together to think about the future value of Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal UNESCO World Heritage site (WHS) as a sustainable and equitable tourism and lifelong learning model…
CFP - JOIN
We invite proposals for papers, presentations, and practice-based contributions to Join: Crafting Conversations with Communities, a RAAD conference exploring the possibilities, challenges, and futures of art, craft and design practice. Deadline for abstracts extended to 11 May 2026, in-person conference 1 July 2026 in Birmingham.
Finding AFFINITIES
Last month RAAD researcher Becky Shaw participated in Finding affinities: Doing practice-research in non-arts contexts, an event organised as part of The Guildhall School’s ResearchWorks programme.
Co-Remembering Covid
Co-Remembering Covid in Teams: Revisiting Art School Lockdown through Creative Co-production, the latest Art Activisms public event takes place this week. Lisa Metherell and Cathy Wade discuss their ongoing collaboration to creatively unpack experiences of Covid lockdown as carers and lecturers in Higher Education in order to help understand where we are today.
What are the odds?
What are the odds? Ikon Creative Health is an off-site exhibition by Ikon at the Library of Birmingham, which explores the role of art in supporting health and care systems. It presents creative health not only as an intervention, but as a way of questioning, shaping and understanding the conditions we live in.
CFP Beyond Calligraphy
CCVA have launched the CFP for their 19th Annual CCVA Conference, to be held at the University of Bologna, Italy in October 2026 in collaboration with the ERC “WRITE” project. The conference will explore “Beyond Calligraphy: New Approaches in Contemporary Times”.
Prize Winning Artist
RAAD’s very own Jaskirt Dhaliwal-Boora has been announced as the recipient of the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) Award for Social Impact 2025. For 147 years, the RPS Awards have recognised individuals working across still and moving images, as well as those using photography in innovative ways. The awards celebrate significant achievements, showcase new and emerging talent, and highlight notable contributions. The 2025 recipients’ work reflects the power of photography to inspire, uplift, incite change and bring about personal, social and cultural wellbeing.
Surrealism and the PRC
Dr. Lauren Walden's latest book Surrealism and the People's Republic of China: From Mao to Now has just been published as part of the Routledge Research in Art History series.
Last christmas
Last Christmas is an exhibition by Becky Shaw opening at Black Box Project Space, University of the Creative Arts, Farnham this month.
This is a Phantom
Stuart Whipps reflects on his current exhibition ‘This is a Phantom’ with Grampian Hospital Arts Trust at The Suttie Arts Space in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary which runs from 6 Sept – 7 Dec 2025.
Things of the Least
On 24th October 2025, the exhibition Things of the Least: Lively Exhibition Making with Children under 3 was opened at Manchester Art Gallery. Things of the Least is a 3-year research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. It explores the ways very youngest children can actively contribute to exhibition-making, transforming the public space of the gallery.
PhD Funding Available
The Doctoral Landscape Awards is an AHRC-funded initiative hosted by Birmingham City University (BCU), supporting the development of a vibrant and inclusive doctoral research culture in the arts and humanities.
Made & Worn Away Day
This guest blog by Liz Burton reflects on the recent Made & Worn Away Day at Winterbourne House: Exploring Heritage, identity and sustainability.
Conference news – AEPM
Our printing history and culture researchers in CPHC are excited to be hosting the Association of European Printing Museums Conference, in Birmingham at Winterbourne House & Garden this September.
Practice Together
Practice Together is one-day workshop that aims to bring together doctoral students engaging with practice research to develop their understanding and confidence around the final submission formats of their PhDs.