Art students celebrate Spike Island’s 50th year at annual Open Studios weekend

A mysterious archive of artworks donated by studio holders and staff at Spike Island will be unveiled by students from the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) during the art centre’s annual Open Studios (1 – 3 May).

The 'Brooke Bond Vaults' have been created in honour of Spike Island’s 50^th birthday and is one of several exhibits and events taking place at UWE Bristol’s art studios based at the former industrial building - home to UWE Bristol’s Fine Art and Curating courses.

The Open Studios weekend offers visitors a rare opportunity to see inside Spike Island’s vast network of studios, including the shared Graduate Fellow Studio, featuring work in progress by UWE Bristol graduates Noah Cole, Will Hilless and Taiki Nakagawa. 

The weekend begins on Friday 1 May and runs until Sunday 3 May; visitors will be able to explore the working environments of the hundreds of artists, designers and creative businesses based there, including the UWE Bristol studio space on the ground floor of the building. They can meet the students and artists and see their working practices, enjoy family-friendly activities and browse unique art works for sale.

The student-led exhibitions, performances and workshops with UWE Bristol Fine Art and Curating at Spike Island Open Studios include a variety of events including Cirque du Spike – a spectacular pop-up talent show and bar, with live acts on the Friday and circus-inspired workshops across the weekend.

There are also screenings of short films, a sound installation called ‘Private Parts’ which questions people’s engagement with public and private spaces, an interactive installation giving discarded billboards a second life, folding back the layers, to reveal and conceal; plus, a clay workshop encouraging new connections, collaborations and the sharing of stories.

In addition, there will be several exhibitions from Fine Art students:

The Brooke Bond Vaults, Est. 1992

The Brooke Bond Vaults is a little-known archive striving to preserve the materiality of artmaking in a hyper digital age. For Spike's 50th anniversary, every studio-holder was invited to donate an object. ‘Collecticians’ Martha Fox and Amelia Gardner use a secretive and unorthodox preservation method - revealed this Spike Open Studios 2026 - as they unlatch their industrial doors to the public for the first and only time. Visitors might smell it before they see it.

Wanting to sit with someone

This group exhibition curated by George Lawrence aims to scrutinise impulses of comfort and company through material fragilities.

AMNIOTE

An exploration of industrialism and biology. The decay of body into ground, the corporeal: the body capable of weathering, embryo as mildew and rust. Curated by Mack Shahini.

MA Fine Art students present their work across two interlinking spaces adjacent to the BA Fine Art studios. The work reflects the students’ preoccupations and research around materiality, labour, gender, mythology and language and the current challenging social and political contexts.

MA Curating students present Access Bristol, a growing research project developed by the students to investigate accessibility across Bristol’s cultural institutions. Visitors are invited to share their supportive experiences, as well as barriers faced when accessing Bristol’s cultural spaces. This marks the project’s progress towards becoming a submission-based, community-informed resource.

For people interested in studying an MA in Fine Art or Curating, Dr Steven Paige, Programme Leader MA Fine Art, or Dr Marianne Mulvey, Programme Leader MA Fine Art: Curating, will be available to discuss UWE Bristol’s postgraduate arts courses, between 1pm – 3pm on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 May.

Sophie Hayes, BA Fine Art Programme Leader, said: “Spike Island Open Studios gives our students a valuable opportunity to show their work and to be part of a well-established event in Bristol’s cultural calendar.

“Our students’ work this year reflects a diverse range of interests and approaches, and it’s wonderful to see them contributing to Spike Island’s 50th anniversary.”

UWE Bristol’s studios are open on Friday 1 May between 6pm and 9pm and on Saturday 2 May and Sunday 3 May between 11am and 5pm.

More information is available on the Spike Island website.