MDX students on arts and creative courses excel in year of awards and accolades

Achievements across multiple disciplines recognised by industry professionals

Students and alumni from the Arts and Creative Industries Faculty at Middlesex University have notched up a series of accolades during 2024 in an impressive display of talent and innovation.

The year ended with the 2024 Christmas Flash Fashion Show, a collaborative event showcasing 50 outfits from Fashion BA students from the First Years’ White Shirt Project to Second Year Menswear Tailoring and Third Year Work-in-Progress. Around 250 audience members were wowed by the designs and many more images on display as the show was supported by students on a range of courses such as Fashion Marketing, Film, Photography and Illustration.

“The Flash Fashion Show was a fantastic opportunity for students to experiment and build confidence in their abilities to curate and execute a fashion showcase. They developed valuable transferable employment skills and had an opportunity to network with cross disciplinary creatives.”

Lisa Wilkinson, Senior Lecturer in Fashion Design

A number of exhibitions throughout the year demonstrated the quality of student work including the North London Degree Show 2024 which kicked off with a thrilling fashion show alongside vibrant displays of student final-year projects from fine art paintings, films and short animations to graphic design portfolios, 3D games, photography and interior design features. 

There were successes for Middlesex University students and graduates from creative courses throughout the year. They included BA Film graduate Nefeli Dimakea who won the Global Peace Award at the Hague International Film Festival for her film All Rise, a poignant story of justice, loss and the pursuit of peace. Other achievements included prestigious Royal Television Society London Student Television Awards for two films by Middlesex University Film and TV graduates.

BA Animation graduate Agata Tabacu won a place at the Black Sea Animation Workshop, which brings together creative talent from the area. Agata’s film As I Look Out The Window was one of only 10 projects selected to be shown. Meanwhile, Middlesex University was the guest animation school at this year’s Animest International Animation Festival in Romania, where a retrospective of 16 stand-out animation films by Middlesex students were shown to an audience of film-makers and industry professionals.

The work of two MA Photography students, Beatrice Balzano and Maryam Javadian, was chosen by a jury of well-respected photography curators to represent their work and the MA Photography course in the prestigious Source Magazine Graduate Photography. Beatrice took portraits of students from the LGBTQ+ community at Middlesex University, while Maryam made a series of abstract work focusing on reflections on water.

Camilla Brown, Programme Leader MA Photography, said: “Our Masters course focuses on contemporary social documentary photography; we welcome photographers with unique and varied forms of practice and support them to realise their full potential. We are very proud of these two students’ achievements and their professionalism.”

Two students on the MA Interiors course enjoyed success in the Architects for Health Student Awards 2024, a forum of architects, designers, planners and professionals who discuss and share best practice within the healthcare sector. Ng Qassandra won the MA Interior Design category while Ariana Daniela Chavez Zavala was highly commended.

Michael Westthorp, Programme Leader MA Interiors, said: “This is an outstanding achievement for our students. These awards are a forum of architects, designers, planners and professionals who share and recognise best practice within the healthcare sector.”

BA Fine Art student Holly Sezer and MA Fine Art student Luke Rooney, who graduated last year, were featured in Bloomberg New Contemporaries at Camden Art Centre, an exhibition of the work of 55 of the most exciting artists emerging from UK art schools selected by internationally-renowned artists. 

The work of Middlesex students appeared in a variety of other exhibitions during the year, including Exhibition Flux – Fashion Communication at The Crypt Gallery in London where Fashion Communication and Styling graduates presented their creative work in an exciting display.

Lisa Wilkinson said: “The ‘Flux’ exhibition showcased the culmination of hard work and creativity by our graduates on this programme which encourages students to explore a broad range of media and visual communication methods. The show featured a diverse array of graduate work focused on disciplines such as photography, styling, production, art direction, and film.”

A display of recent graduate work from Middlesex’s creative courses also won ‘Best Stand’ at the renowned D&AD New Blood Awards 2024, beating exhibits from up to 40 other universities. The Middlesex University display showcased the work of students from Graphic Design, Illustration, Fashion Communication and Styling, Advertising, PR and Branding, and Digital Media and Communications, while two individual awards were also won by Middlesex students.

As well as awards and exhibitions, a number of students from arts and creative courses were involved in community campaigns. The Kilburn Museum Lab exhibition at The Tin Tabernacle in Kilburn saw the culmination of a project involving Interior Architecture students working with the local community in a project that enabled visitors to explore the area’s past, present and future through the eyes of its community.

Students on the University’s Interiors courses also achieved recognition at the Interior Educators Awards 2024. Of 12 BA Interior Architecture and Interior Design students and two cohorts shortlisted, there were two winning projects as well as a commendation for Kilburn Museum Lab. Interior Architecture student Abeen Sami won in the Social Justice category while students from Interior Architecture, Interior Design, Dance, Music and Film won the Collaboration Award for their Objects of Rhythm project to create and build objects for dance students to choreograph around and work into a live performance.

Meanwhile, the University’s #HearMyVoice campaign with London Borough of Barnet has involved students from Film, Animation and Graphic Design working with secondary schools and local community partners to tackle misogyny and violence against women and girls.