Back to Hornsey or forward futures?

Back in 1968, a British Art School exploded into revolt and students occupied the building. This sparked intensive debate about the nature of art and design education and the role of a rapidly expanding higher education sector. In many ways it was the art and design ‘British’ equivalent of the May events in Paris that same year. It certainly resulted in a lot of changes to the structure of Art School education.

A less well-known aspect of these legendary events was the production of a film made by those involved under the direction of Patricia Holland. Patricia Holland will show the film and engage in discussion with the audience about the significance and possible contemporary relevance of these events. The issues are worth revisiting in the very different climate of today with the concept of Higher Education as a public good supported from the public purse under neo-liberal attack and the current struggles and protests by students including tactics of occupation to fight for the values of education.

Patricia Holland is currently a writer and researcher and for a number of years worked as a freelance television editor and independent filmmaker. She has published widely in the fields of photography, television, visual culture and popular media. Her books include The Angry Buzz: ‘This Week’ and Current Affairs Television (I.B. Tauris, 2004) and Picturing Childhood: the Myth of the Child in Popular Imagery (I.B.Tauris, 2004).