PhD student wins #BeACritic competition

Jade French, PhD student in the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies (and member of the Centre for Critical Studies in Museums, Galleries and Heritage) recently won #BeACritic, a competition run by The Double Negative magazine, Arts Council England and Liverpool John Moores University to find the best emerging arts critics.

This year's prize included a masterclass with Tim Marlow, the Royal Academy's new Artistic Director. Marlow has over 20 years’ experience presenting arts programmes for the BBC, Sky Arts, Channel 4 and Five, in addition to writing extensively for newspapers and magazines on arts and culture ― including the Times, the Guardian, the Independent on Sunday, Arena and Art Monthly.

'Meeting Tim and getting the opportunity to ask him questions was brilliant,' said Jade. 'Tim gave us some great tips during the day and even talked us through a case study of Venice Biennale which he was reviewing at the time.'

As part of the prize, Jade was commissioned by Arts Council England and Liverpool John Moores University to write a review to be published in The Double Negative magazine, titled 'It's art for the people, by the people': Build Your Own: Tools for Sharing ― Reviewed.

In her review, Jade considers the joys and difficulties of showcasing contemporary, innovative and collaborative community arts in the gallery space. Her article concerns Build Your Own: Tools for Sharing, an exhibition which explores the connections between craft, technology and community which is currently running at FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) in Liverpool.

Jade's review is now available online.

Images: exhibits at Build Your Own: Tools for Sharing, FACT Liverpool