Xhibit — Sophie Risner

Since 2017 I have coordinating, curatd and project managed Xhibit the flagship exhibition as part of the Arts Programme at Arts SU - the students’ union for UAL (University of the Arts, London).

This annual exhibition was originally set-up by then-students Kit Hammonds and Angela Robinson in 1997 and is the longest running open call opportunity for students at University of the Arts, London.

"I was the Vice-President elected for Chelsea College of Art. As I was responsible for the Events, I was keen to do more than just bar and ball kind of activities. Xhibit was started partly in response to the fact there wasn’t much cross-college, or even cross-site, contacts and it seemed sensible to start with the common ground between art and design students, the opportunity to show the work alongside one another irrespective of disciplines, specialisms or stage. It was open to any student."

Kit Hammonds, co-founder of Xhibit

Students selected for Xhibit gain a three week platforming exhibiiton (hosted externally to UAL in and around Easter-time), mentoring to guide them through the opportunity - gaining knowledge on installation, transporting work, art handling, sales and networking. They gain a Professional Development afternoon (open to all UAL students) which is a programme of talks by creative industry experts. They gain feedback on their work from the selection panel, alongside the ability to attend group crits on their piece once installed. They meet other students from across UAL, space and time to develop a dialogue with other artists within the exhibition. We’ve also provided a one-off materials bursary in the past through our collaboration with CASS Art, as well as a media vision award (in the past this has been through Refinery29 and Bustle) for 2021 this will be a partnership with Vice Media generating vital exposure for their practice. We also further promote their practice through a programme of live events and a hardcopy exhibition catalogue.

Xhibit 2022 (hosted at The Koppel Project, New Bond Street)

Images of the exhibition and artist crit hosted by Peer Sessions (scroll to view)

Images: © Arts SU and David Povilaika

Jamie Clifton - Editor in Chief, Vice
Carine Harmand - Assistant Curator, International Art Tate and Trustee Mimosa House
Armani Sutherland - Arts SU Activities Sabbatical Officer 2021 - 2022

Press
Artist N Virtual interview with Xhibit curator Veronica Grazioli: Interview: Xhibit 2022 Curator, Veronica Grazioli - Artist N Virtual
UAL Post-grad story: XHIBIT: A Private Viewing with Rijul Narwal | UAL (arts.ac.uk)
Vice Media Vision Award Tik Tok story: VICE (@vice) Official TikTok | Watch VICE's Newest TikTok Videos
Xhibit Professional Development Day write up by Melody Uyanga Ramsay Uuganbayar Xhibit Professional Development Day 2022 (arts-su.com)

For 2022 we collaborated with The Net Gallery to provide a digital scan of the exhibition:

Jamie Clifton - Editor in Chief, Vice
Liz May - prev. Administrative Director, A.P.T
Aimee McLaughlin - Staff writer at Creative Review
Hannah Walker - prev. Ediorial Executive at The Evening Standard
Eleanor Louise West - Artist, LGBTQ+ academic and Arts SU Activities Sabbatical Officer 2019-2021

Xhibit 2019 (hosted at Koppel Project Central Gallery, Poland Street, Soho)

click and scroll to see all images
Images: Amber Muir

Annie-Marie Akussah - Xhibit selected artist 2018 & Activities Sabbatical Officer 2019-2020
Emma Noble - Freelance Multidisciplinary Designer
Charlotte Owen - Executive Editor, Bustle Digital Group UK
Resh Sidhu - Multiaward winning Creative Director at AKQA London and UAL Honorary 2018
George Vasey - Curator at the Wellcome Collection and freelance art writer
Annie Warburton - CEO at Cockpit Arts

Press
CASS Art Bursary interview with recipient Bunmi Agusto: https://www.cassart.co.uk/blog/artist-interview-bunmi-agusto-winner-of-the-cass-art-award-at-xhibit-2019.htm
Bustle: https://www.bustle.com/p/uals-xhibit-showcases-the-universitys-best-artistic-talent-heres-our-pick-of-the-crop-17136428
UAL: https://www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/press-office/stories/xhibit-2019-this-years-creatives-of-the-future

Xhibit 2018 (hosted at Bermondsey Project Space, Bermndsey Street)

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Mike von Joel - Editor in Chief, STATE/f22 and Director, Bermondsey Project Space
Leah Kahn - Activities Sabbatical Officer
Amal Khalaf - Civic Curator, Serpentine Gallery and artist
Patrick Laing - Product designer
Frances Morris - Director, Tate Modern and UAL Honorary 2017
Nadia-Anne Ricketts - Founder, Beatwovan

Press
CASS Art interview with receipient Chris Makin: https://www.cassart.co.uk/blog/artist-interview-chris-makin-winner-of-the-cass-art-award-at-xhibit-2018.htm
Refinery29: https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2018/04/196727/xhibit-exhibition-ual-london-2018
Vanity Fair: https://www.vanityfair.com/london/2018/04/new-opening-ual-xhibit-2018

Xhibit 2017 (hosted at Bermondsey Project Space, Bermondsey Street)

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Dr David Dibosa – Course Leader, MA Curating & Collections, Chelsea College of Arts, UAL
Kate Goodwin – Head of Architecture and Drue Heinz Curator, Royal Academy of Arts
Mike von Joel – Editor in Chief, STATE/f22
Leah Kahn – Activities Officer, Arts SU
Eamonn Maxwell – Independent Curator & Arts SU President 1999-2000
Grayson Perry - UAL Chancellor, Turner prize winning artist, CBE RA