Students reveal creative responses to real-world experiences at UWE Bristol Showcase

UWE Bristol will host Showcase, its annual degree show, in June, offering visitors the opportunity to discover a new generation of talent from the College of Arts, Technology and Environment.

More than 1200 students from over 40 courses will exhibit their work at Bower Ashton, Arnolfini, Spike Island and the university’s Frenchay Campus from Thursday 5 June until Wednesday 11 June.

An annual highlight for the university and the city of Bristol, members of the public are invited to attend the free, in-person exhibitions which will include a selection of undergraduate and postgraduate work from animation, architecture, art, creative technologies, design, engineering, fashion, filmmaking, media, performance, photography, product design and writing.

Elena Marco, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Head of College of Arts, Technology and Environment said: “Each year, I’m blown away by the sheer creativity, ambition, and depth of thinking shown by our students. Their work reflects not only visionary talent, but also a deep engagement with the challenges and possibilities of the world around them.

“Showcase 2025 isn’t just a celebration of student achievement – it’s a testament to the passion, expertise, and dedication of the incredible staff who support, guide, and inspire them every step of the way. It promises to be a bold, joyful, and unmissable event – don’t miss it.”

Several of this year’s exhibiting students have drawn inspiration from their own experiences, bringing a personal dimension to their final projects.

Joe Stebbens, BA (Hons) Filmmaking, passionately tells under-represented stories from a queer perspective, writing and directing a number of films and producing documentaries, drawing on his own experiences of growing up in Cumbria.

During his final year, he researched the evolution of HIV/AIDS representation throughout the history of film and television, something which has inspired his graduate film ‘Father’s Day’. This film explores the intergenerational fallout in the wake of the HIV/AIDS crisis of the late 1980s/early 90s. Shot through the perspective of a father-son relationship, it explores men’s relationship with language, responsibility, separation and change. 

Joe said: “Father’s Day embodies all of the themes that resonate with me as a writer. Thematically, the film offers an opportunity to explore the guilt, shame and quiet suffering experienced by countless queer men during the aftermath of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.”

Iside Buraga is a BA (Hons) Fashion Textiles student whose designs are influenced by her involvement with the Bristol Northern Soul Club; this has been a catalyst for her creative exploration of subcultures and storytelling through fashion.

Issi said: “My involvement with Northern Soul has made me consider the experiences and emotions that lead people to dress and portray themselves in a certain way. It can be extravagant or covert, and sometimes obscure in a similar way to music.”

Her final project explores the tension between external presentation and internal emotion, drawing on themes of female identity, deviancy, and vulnerability. The dress she’s designed incorporates found and gifted materials, emphasising hand-finished details and hidden elements to reflect the invisible stories within garments and people.

Solomon Khimba, is a BEng (Hons) Architecture and Environmental Engineering student. His final project addresses the rights of nomadic people to a political voice, by creating an architectural design for a dual-purpose building in St Pauls. The concept combines a circus venue with a political forum, inspired by his own experience of living in a van as a child and the plight of Bristol’s Invisible Circus, which vacated its city centre premises due to plans for redevelopment.

Drawing on the traditions of travelling and circus communities, the building aims to give access and visibility to those communities who might feel excluded from civic participation.

“The idea is to bring together an entertainment aspect, drawing people into the building to see the circus, but also to drive connection with politics,” said Solomon. “Having a connection between these really different groups of people would hopefully have an impact on the ideas and choices that they both make.”

Erin Leung, BA (Hons) Animation, has produced a CG animated short film titled 'The Boy and the Goldfish'. The plot follows a young boy in a Hong Kong Chinese family. The story begins where the boy is sitting by the window alone. As he hears his mother arriving home, he quickly springs to his desk to do his homework. The mother scolds the boy and tells him to keep his head down and study. Disappointed by the mother's lack of affection, the little boy finds companionship in a little goldfish instead. 

Erin said: “The film touches on themes of Asian parenting and force-feeding education that is common in Hong Kong and a lot of Asian countries. The story was inspired by a few mother-and-son relationships I've observed and some of my own experiences being taught in a high-pressure learning environment. I also wanted to explore the conflicted relationship where the mother wants the best for the child but doesn't necessarily love them in a way that allows their child to grow. The goldfish not only symbolises childhood innocence and hope, the relationship of the boy and the fish also mirrors that of the boy and the mother, where one is being trapped, unable to free themselves.”

Kalli Montigue, a BA (Hons) Product Design student, has designed ‘PupPulse’, a concept for a smart dog-harness and collar combined with a mobile app to provide reactive dog owners with wellbeing data and insights. These are collected by health metric sensors fitted within the harness and an AI analysis within the app to help them track stress patterns and behaviour trends.

Kalli said: “I was inspired by my sister’s experience with her reactive dog and my research has shown how common and complex dog behavioural issues can be. PupPulse could offer owners trustworthy data, a relatable community, and accessible support, to help them understand and manage their dog’s reactivity with confidence.”

And MA Architecture students, who were recently longlisted in The Davidson Prize, will exhibit their project ‘Growing Places’. The competition seeks inventive design proposals to transform any site in the UK into a ‘cohesive and integrated’ community of at least 300 new homes; this year’s theme is Streets Ahead: The Race to Build 1.5M Homes.

UWE Bristol broadcast journalism and media production students are also working with the university’s New Wave Creative Agency to produce a one-hour radio show for Ujima Radio, exploring the build up to the Showcase for School of Arts students. The special show will be broadcast at 1pm on 2 June.

More information on how to visit Showcase is available on the UWE Bristol website. 

For those who can’t make it in person, a digital showcase is available to view online and features exciting work from hundreds of graduating students from 40 programmes. Designed to celebrate new talent and support professional practice, enterprise and employability, each graduate has curated their own portfolio with links to their own sites and social channels.