Faculty Fellow showcases Design Archives’ resources at Tate St Ives

Dr Harriet Atkinson, Faculty Fellow hosted by the Design Archives, will take part in a study day on the Design Research Unit that accompanies the Tate St Ives showing of this exhibition. Harriet’s talk ‘Propaganda in Three Dimensions’: the exhibition work of Design Research Unit traces the evolution of Design Research Unit's exhibition design work from their formation in 1943 until the mid-1950s, when the Unit’s core focus moved away from exhibition as medium. It will explores the work of Misha Black, Milner Gray and DRU associates prior to 1943, including contributions to international exhibitions and the seminal MARS Group Exhibition of 1938. It investigates DRU members’ work while employees of the wartime Ministry of Information, their contributions to the land-mark post-war exhibitions Britain Can Make It in 1946 and the Festival of Britain in 1951, as well as work on smaller exhibitions, trade fairs and agricultural shows.  The talk explores their working methods, their visual approach and the messages that they sought to communicate through their exhibitions.

See also related news item on the DRU exhibition.