Our Research and Scholarship projects take place externally on a regional, national and international scale.
Click on each project below for further information on a selection of research projects supported by or carried out by staff and students of the college.
If you have a project or idea you would like to discuss with the college please email research@pca.ac.uk
Interreg VA Atlantic Area Transnational Cooperation Programme project focusing on re-design of youth services across Europe using tech, creative and digital media and social enterprise, 2017.
European Regional Development Fund Programme supporting knowledge exchange, technology transfer and interdisciplinary activities to support product and service development in the Big Data and Environmental Futures sector, 2017.
A four day artist-led professional development event from artist duo LOW PROFILE, which was held at Dartington Estate, Devon, on 28 June - 1 July 2018. Following on from a successful pilot event in 2015, Jamboree 2018 offered the chance for 150 visual artists, curators and programmers to network, collaborate and share practice in a relaxed outdoor setting, with attendees navigating a participant-built programme of presentations, micro-exhibitions, activities and discussions.
Made@EU is a collaboration between Europe's top research and education centres on the field of digital fabrication and its ever-growing relationship with the arts, design and traditional craftsmanship.
With the support of the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union, this strong international network of leaders in the Fab Lab network come together to join forces on diverse programmes creating opportunities for artists, designers and craftspeople to explore and exchange ideas across borders.
Find out about our on-site Fab Lab here.
Plymouth College of Art and Millfields Trust have joined forces to launch a new venture, Makers HQ, a unique and visionary community interest company created to provide cut, make and trim services to the fashion industry, with a strong focus on achieving ethical, British manufacture. Supported by funding from Power to Change, the independent trust supporting community businesses in England, and the Social Enterprise Investment Fund from Plymouth City Council, Makers HQ is located on the site in Plymouth's city centre formerly occupied by the Jaeger factory.
For more information please email hello@makershq.co.uk
Plymouth College of Art’s Associate Dean Design, Paul Singleton MA (RCA), has been working on consultancy and curriculum design for Myanmar textiles and weaving industry, in partnership with the British Council, 2017. The British Council’s Crafting Futures programme supports the future of craft around the globe through international collaboration, by strengthening economic, social and cultural development through learning and access.
Crafting Futures Myanmar is supporting the transformation of Saunders Weaving and Vocational Institute (SWVI) in Amarapura, Mandalay, into a Centre of Excellence through an innovative pilot model, which will be adapted to 13 other schools in Myanmar.
Working with Plymouth College of Art, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the Small Scale Industries Department, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, the project is developing the skills of teachers, young women and professionals, working towards the sustainable growth of the textile sector through education, cultural revitalization and a social business approach. With integrated project research and learning, this project aims to effectively overcome barriers preventing the textile industry in Myanmar from providing inclusive economic opportunities.
Plymouth College of Art is part of Retreat Cornwall's creative research project ‘Imaginative Disruption’, that explores the transgressive potential of art and making to engage a group of citizens and experts in an imaginative conception of alternative environmental narratives. Taking place in three countries (Sweden, United Kingdom and The Netherlands) three ‘collective residencies’ will bring together an intergenerational group of people who will play, make, eat, (re)imagine and learn together, to design alternative futures around a selected ‘glocal’ issue, and explore what needs to be disrupted to realise these new realities.
Seeking the Marvellous was a two-day interdisciplinary symposium that examined the work of Ithell Colquhoun (1906 - 1988) and other women connected both with Surrealism and with Britain. Organised by Plymouth College of Art in partnership with the Black Mirror research network, it was held at Plymouth College of Art in March 2018.
For more information please visit our Events & Conferences page or contact Judith Noble.
The Embodied Experience of Drawing is a one-day symposium, most recently taking place in April 2018 in response to the increasing proportion of artists in the South West working in performative drawing practices, gathering a delegation at a vital time to acknowledge and interrogate this movement and discuss ideas around the future of drawing practice.
'Women’s Empowerment through Craft, Entrepreneurship and Technology in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan' is under the leadership and the supervision of Dr Malgorzata Fryzlewicz and conducted by the consortium composed of Plymouth College of Art and research partners based in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The objectives of this study were:
- to provide a contextual overview of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan’s craft and entrepreneurship landscape, specifically in relation to female communities;
- to contribute to a greater understanding of the current skills gaps and labour shortages affecting the crafts sector in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, including differences or similarities across the three countries;
- to identify key players currently addressing the identified skills gaps and labour shortages, issues with market demand for their products, and potential partners or possible co-investors for future programme development;
- to assess the role of technologies, specifically mobile and digital technology, in the work of the key players;
- to provide recommendations that can subsequently inform the development of new evidenced-based programmes and products.
In pursuit of these objectives, the research initiatives aimed to extract the existing knowledge from globally significant literature and available statistics. In-depth studies covering data collected through questionnaires, focus group discussion and interviews with governmental and non-govermental organisations, and women entrepreneurs, were also carried out across Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.