Arts and Creativity

Kids, join us for an interactive workshop that will give you the unique chance to turn your favourite toy into the star of a fully-animated short film.

Join our panellists from France and the UK as they discuss their experiences of cultural regeneration, examples of best practice and new approaches to research, creation and innovation.

Kids, join us for an interactive workshop that will give you the unique chance to turn your favourite toy into the star of a fully-animated short film.

Art historian and curator Susan Owens takes a look at England’s invented histories, from the glamorous to the disturbing, from the eighth century to the present day.

Discover the hidden world of watchmaking with award-winning designer, watchmaker and historian Rebecca Struthers, who will reveal the ways in which timekeeping has shaped our attitudes to work, leisure, politics, and more.

From chopines to stilettos and Louis XIV to Louboutin, Senior Shoe Curator Rebecca Shawcross takes you on a fascinating journey exploring the history of shoes, from antiquity to the present.

This illustrated talk by Alan Turnbull, author of Who Shot Van Gogh?, follows the extraordinary story of his Sunflower paintings - from the artist’s easel to a London auction house a hundred years later.

Curator and music expert Claire McGinn will explore whether it might be possible to play ‘expressively’ with mechanical instruments, which haven’t always been taken seriously in the history of performance.

From Colombian emeralds in Tudor jewellery to Black voices in 18th-century novels, Lauren Working and Olivia Carpenter of the University of York invite you to reimagine and rediscover British art and literature.

Participate in an exciting workshop on the power of clothes and their representation in literature, including creative writing exercises that will give you the opportunity to start your own piece of clothing memoir or fiction.

Art curator Helena Cox introduces the hidden treasures from the University of York’s extensive and exciting art collection.

Focusing on a curated selection of pagan art and artefacts, writer and researcher Ethan Doyle White explains the complex histories of paganism and how today’s Pagans are inspired by the pre-Christian past.

Queer science fiction writer and researcher Bee Scott explores how science fiction plays are reinvestigating and challenging our assumptions about the future of queer life.

One of the UK’s largest student-run music groups, The Chimera Ensemble, presents a scintillating programme exploring the theme of music inspired by art and colour.

Immerse yourself in gorgeous harmony with a massed choir of singers as we test the idea that group singing is an effective way of forming social connections with strangers.

Textile expert and author Clare Hunter discusses how Mary, Queen of Scots, used textiles to advance her political agenda, affirm her royal lineage and tell her own story.

Join us for a lively evening of original music and words celebrating secrets of York life and culture, from folk and punk to fine art via city streets.

Join University of York Visiting Researcher Monika Zabrocka to discover how offering viewers more appealing, creative Audio Description formats allows us to reinvent this tool in entirely new contexts.

Rediscover the Renaissance with Emily Stevenson and Lauren Working of the University of York, who, together with artist Loraine Rutt, will discuss how creating connections between art and archives can generate new ways of imagining the past.

Film and TV studies expert Helen Wheatley of the University of Warwick discusses her recent study on representations of death, dying and bereavement on television, in conversation with University of York death studies scholar Ruth Penfold-Mounce.

Join us for a special film screening of ‘Spike Milligan: The Unseen Archive’, including a Q&A with the documentary makers and Spike’s daughter, Jane.

Rediscover the intellectual and cultural value of art through a close encounter with objects from the historic collection at Castle Howard.

Our panel of experts discuss the world of complex and unexpected imagery that people throughout history have used to inscribe their identities on their bodies.

Join us for a film screening and Q&A that will change your understanding of what development means.

Join us for a fascinating conversation with Michael Cashman, who made history - first as an actor, one half of the first gay kiss on a British soap, and then as a campaigner and politician fighting for gay rights.

Come along to this inspiring panel discussion and exhibition, captured by an artist’s live drawings, that will invite you to imagine what a rewilded York could look like.

Our panel invites you to explore how we can find beauty in our day-to-day lives and to discover how beauty can manifest itself in seemingly ordinary items and actions - from slang to football shirts.

Join Julius Bryant, Keeper Emeritus of Word and Image at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, to discover some of the most influential and compelling illustrated books on topics ranging from religion to shopping, and natural history to fashion.

Join University of York art historian Theo Gordon in conversation with photographer Sunil Gupta, whose work has continually pushed the boundaries of representation in photography, centring queer and postcolonial experiences.

Bring along your instrument(s) and a music stand (if you have one), and be guided through a range of specially tailored activities and music conducted by the All Seasons Orchestra’s Artistic Director, Catherine E. Holbrook.

Immerse yourself in the innovative work created by the University of York’s talented Interactive Media student community and celebrate their achievements in an exciting field where creativity and technology converge.

Join us as the winners of the 15th annual York Design Awards are revealed.