Category: News

Today, the loss of a shared, national audience and the transformation of the TV industry into a crowded, global marketplace has left little space for debate about what TV could or should be. 

Autumn Art Lecture Series 2025

As we approach the centenary of television’s invention, the Autumn Art Lecture series will reflect on its distinctive possibility as a very public art. This term was coined in the last century on the premise that such arts rightfully ‘belong’ to the people and has tended to underpin judgements about television’s failures as well as its achievements.

Today, the loss of a shared, national audience and the transformation of the TV industry into a crowded, global marketplace seems to have left little space for debate about what television could or should be, but these are precisely the questions to which this year’s lecture series will give room.

The series will host prominent speakers from the worlds of both academic research and television production, including Gwyneth Hughes, writer of the RTS and BAFTA winning drama, Mr Bates Vs. The Post Office (ITV, 2024).

Events include

Gwyneth Hughes: In Conversation

Thu, 23 Oct, 18:30

Wills Memorial Building, Reception Room

The Art of Factual Television

Thu, 6 Nov, 18:30

Wills Memorial Building, Old Council Chamber

What’s On? Class and the Future of Television as a Public Art

Thu, 13 Nov, 18:30

Wills Memorial Building, Reception Room

Find out more and book for the free events in the Autumn Art Lectures 2025 series, Television: A Very Public Art, here.

If you have any questions about this event or the series as a whole, please contact alss-research@bristol.ac.uk.

The Autumn Art Lecture series is hosted by the University of Bristol’s Faculty of Arts, Law & Social Sciences.

Join us this September as the University of Bristol opens its doors for Heritage Open Days 2025!

As part of the National Heritage Open Days programme the University will be running exhibitions and tours across the weekend of 20 and 21 September, offering the opportunity to explore the spaces, stories, and collections that make the University so unique.

From guided garden walks, tower tours and archive tours to art exhibitions and behind-the-scenes access, there’s something for everyone to enjoy across the weekend.

Art & Horticulture walking tour of Royal Fort Gardens

Saturday 20 September 11 am

Royal Fort Gardens has a green flag for being one of the best parks in the country. It’s rich in biodiversity and home to a big portion of the University’s public art. This short walking tour in and around the gardens will lead us round four of the artworks from the public art collection and explore points of interest and horticultural features of the gardens.

The tour will start at 11 am and last approximately 1.5 hours.

You must have a pre booked ticket to take part in this tour.

Book tickets here 

For the full programme of Heritage Open Day events at the University of Bristol, please see the Events page.

You might have already spotted some of the brilliant permanent artworks dotted around campus, but if you haven’t, you can now explore Bristol’s public art collection at your fingertips with the Bloomberg Connects app. This is a free, easy-to-use platform that connects you to art and cultural collections and experiences from around the world.

The app features highlights from the University’s collection, including a specially curated sculpture walk around our beautiful Royal Fort Gardens. Head to the front desk at the Arts and Social Sciences Library for maps, postcards and bookmarks.

Download the app to discover more, or keep up to date with our public art by following @bristol_uni_publicart on Instagram.

Read this new blog post to get up to speed on the inspiring public art projects that kicked off in 2024!

Through workshops, creative events and permanent artworks, the University’s programme of art commissions is helping to provide new opportunities for collaboration and community engagement in and around the Temple Quarter area and encouraging a wider sense of involvement and play. 

Find out about the Bristol-based artists and partners we’ll be collaborating with to deliver this programme over the next 18 months, ahead of the new Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus opening in September 2026.

Lead Artist sought for Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus – Wild Spaces public art commission.

Deadline 28 October 2024

We have just launched an exciting opportunity for an artist to deliver a participatory programme and temporary artworks that investigate the natural ecologies around the site of the new University of Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus (TQEC), next to Bristol Temple Meads Station.

Wild Spaces is an eighteen-month commission that will take place alongside the construction of the new campus. It will focus on TQEC’s access to the waterfront as a platform for examining the bigger picture of wild spaces across the city.

We are looking for an artist who will find imaginative ways to create a dialogue between people and place, providing new perspectives on the site’s relationship with water and the natural landscape.

Full details, Artist Brief and details on how to apply are available here

This is one of three major new public art commissions that will be delivered with Contemporary Art Society *Consultancy, as the University of Bristol work towards the opening of the TQEC in 2026. The commissions aim to spark curiosity and imagination and help create a place where people feel welcomed.