Notice: Celebrating The 50th Anniversary Of The Guildford School Of Art Sit-In

Published on: 7 Jun, 2018
Updated on: 7 Jun, 2018

1968 was a year of protest around the world. From demonstrations against the Vietnam War, the rising Civil Rights movement in the United States, to mass strikes and student occupations in France, people took direct political action to call for change.

Guildford was no exception and it was here that the longest student sit-in in British history took place at the nGuildford School of Art.

The art school, within the technical college adjacent to Stoke Park, was occupied for eight weeks. It was a student-lead protest against perceived declining educational standards, inadequate resources and lack of student representation on the school’s governing body. As a protest banner at the time proclaimed ‘It is our right to examine our education’.

On the 50th anniversary of this significant event, two exhibitions remembering the sit-in are taking place simultaneously in Guildford.

In Guildford Museum’s exhibition Sitting Down For Our Rights the sit-in is revisited and remembered through interviews with former Guildford School of Art students and tutors.

They share their memories and experiences of the event, illustrated by the photographs of John Walmsley, a student of photography at the school at the time, who recorded the event first hand.

In a partner exhibition at Guildford House Gallery, Finding Our Voice, celebrates the work and careers of artists who were students or tutors at the school of art at the time of the sit-in.

Curated by John Walmsley and Brian Dunce – who was teaching at the school in 1968 – the exhibition presents the work of artists who studied or taught at Guildford in 1968 through examples past or present.

Work featured in the exhibition includes the abstract expressionism of Christine Crowley and photographs from Mark Edwards’ Hard Rain project, exploring environmental issues and inspired by the lyrics of Bob Dylan.

Sitting Down For Our Rights is at Guildford Museum until Saturday, July 14. The museum is open Monday to Saturday, 11am to 5pm. John Walmlsey will sign copies of his book at Guildford Museum on Saturday, June 23, between 11am and 1pm.

Finding our Voice runs at Guildford House Gallery until Sunday, July 8, Monday to Saturday from 10am to 4.45pm and on Sundays from 11am to 4pm. A ‘meet the artist’ event will take place at the gallery on Saturday, June 9 between 11am and 1pm.

Entry to both exhibitions is free.