Second year BA(Hons) Art History and Visual Culture students Aspen Somerton, Karoline Engelund, Lily Sanders, and Sofia Parr have curated a showcase exploring the intersection of smoking and gender at Mithras House.

Want a cig? How smoking has been gendered and viewed historically

A new student-curated exhibition is opening at the University of Brighton located in the Mithras building. This exhibition brings together both the history of smoking in material culture and social culture to explore the diversity of ways in which gender and class have been perceived/marketed through smoking from the 19th century to today in the Western world.

Bringing together historic cigarette packets, print advertisements, marketing campaigns and archival materials, the exhibition outlines how tobacco companies targeted specific consumers. From the rugged branding marketed to working-class men to royal, exclusively made cigarette cases, the strategic segmentation reveals the reasons behind the tobacco industry’s success and how the media influences and reflects society.

Central to the exhibition is an investigation into how smoking was sold to women as being liberating to women in the mid-20th century, yet it simultaneously constrained women to a reinforced ideal of beauty, thinness and gender roles. Whereas masculine marketing relied on tropes of physical toughness, labour and patriotism, turning cigarettes into markers of one’s class identity and masculinity.

“Smoking has always been about far more than tobacco or nicotine,” says curator Sofia. “Its visual culture tells us who was allowed to be rebellious, who could be glamorous, and who was expected to conform. Cigarette and tobacco design was a tool to sell social aspiration.”

Today, smoking becomes increasingly stigmatised and associated with public health campaigns. The gory imagery on cigarette packs is now unavoidable. The exhibition invites visitors to reflect on the shifting narratives and stigma surrounding the social habit. Once a fashionable accessory and even a medical recommendation, cigarettes are now commonly framed as a symbol of ill health or taboo, in certain contexts.

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For more information and images please contact: (Curator Sofia Parr) S.Parr1@uni.brighton.ac.uk

Notes to Editors:

-The exhibition runs at the University of Brighton 12th December-1 June 2026.

-This exhibition was curated by students Aspen Somerton, Karoline Engelund, Lily Sanders, and Sofia Parr.

-Follow updates on the exhibition via Instagram: @wantacig_exhibition

Second year BA(Hons) Fashion and Design History students Eleanor Gaunt, Laila O’Brien, Coco Aylen and Luca Smalley have curated a showcase exploring the history of fancy dress at Mithras House. 

12/12/2025

Press Release

The History of Fancy Dress

In this exhibition, our team have curated an array of objects which provide examples of fancy dress’s history. This includes both photographs and physical garments from a range of time periods. We have four main objects from various archives both in and outside the university.

This includes a Christmas cracker costume donated by Maryse Addison and made by her brother in the Horrocks’ design workshop around 1950. It was made for the Chelsea Arts Ball which was held for New Year’s Eve. Maryse’s parents socialised among the gentry and she later became a top documentary producer at the BBC. The garment was provided by the Brighton University Fashion and Design History Dress Collection. The second object is a family costume worn by Alfred Merrington circa 1910 and his son Keith first in 1977 and later in 1990 for a St. Luke’s Infant School annual fancy dress parade, then every year until his death. The object was provided by Holly Merrington. The third object is a modern Tudor style dress costume in 1530s Anne Boleyn style provided by Gladrags, a costume shop where you can rent costume items to create your own costume. The final object is a book by Arden Holt, Fancy Dress Described. It is a book from 1887 that gives a guide on how to dress as different things such as ‘wind’.

“Fast fashion is like fast food. After the sugar rush, it just leaves a bad taste in your mouth.” – Livia Firth

This exhibition focuses on the reuse and recycle elements of fancy dress and aims to highlight methods of more ethical dressing up such as making your own costume (object 1), reusing a previous costume and adding new elements (object 2) or hiring a costume from a local business (object 3).

Exhibition Details:

The exhibition can be found at Mithras House at the top of The Hellerup staircase.

It will be up from 12th December 2025.

This exhibition does not require an admission as it is publicly available.

For further information and images contact:
Laila O’Brien, l.o’brien8@uni.brighton.ac.uk

Second year BA(Hons) Art History and Visual Culture students Lily Bunch, Aimee Davies, Alex Mooney and Brendan Pointon have curated a showcase exploring attitudes towards tattoo culture at Mithras House. 

Friday, 12^th December 2025

Press Release

University of Brighton Exhibits: The Events Leading up to the Mid-century Artistic Renaissance in Tattoo Culture

The University of Brighton’s art history and visual culture students are proud to present their specially curated exhibition, ‘European Tattoo History: Breaking Down the Stigma of the Illustrated Body’, primarily addressing 19^th – 20^th century works and attitudes regarding tattoo culture. The display will be held at the Hellerup Staircase in Mithras House, Moulsecoomb campus, and launches today on Friday, 12^th December 2025 until 1^st June 2026.

We are greeted first with a brief history of the designs that European sailors in the late 19^th century inked onto their skin, giving us a familiar starting point as to where the stereotypes of tattoos and their social representations originate. Furthermore, criminologist Cesare Lombroso offers an insightful yet heavily outdated explanation as to why people (or as he calls them, ‘criminals’) would choose to get tattooed. The exhibition moves forward through the early 20^th century and war time period to showcase the popular and eccentric styles of tattoos at the time. The main focus of the display analyses the changing social attitudes in light of the mid-century tattoo renaissance, a key period that dwindled stigmas and defined tattooing as a stylistic art form; one that we’re familiar with today.

Highlights of the exhibitions include five unique pieces from the Barbara Jones archive from the University of Brighton Design Archives, that investigate the Bristol Tattoo Club’s rebellious nature and outside of-the-box designs; ranging from photographs, letters, and articles that feature the founder and leading tattoo artist, Les Skuse, who formed the club in 1953. The images chosen by the student curators and their accompanying labels offer a rich description while balancing essential background information to pique the audience’s attention throughout. Each and every design on display is captivating, unique, and intermittently outlandish enough to strike up a laugh.

By bringing together resources such as photographs and articles, the exhibition creates a straightforward and engaging timeline that outlines a significant and evolving culture. Those of all ages and backgrounds fascinated by tattoo design and its vibrant culture would certainly enjoy the contents of the university’s display.

‘European Tattoo History: Breaking Down the Stigma of the Illustrated Body’ will be up and running from Friday, 12^th December 2025 until 1^st June 2026 at the Hellerup Staircase in Mithras House, Moulsecoomb campus at the University of Brighton. The display will be accompanied by two additional exhibitions curated by students of the same subject area that vary in theme.

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Notes to Editors

Three varying additional exhibitions will be present alongside the one addressed in the article, one of which will be held at St Peter’s House Library, City Campus.

No fees, tickets, or additional charges are required.