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.

MA Curating Collections and Heritage student Feyza Nur Bacak discusses lessons learned in the storeroom while on placement at Brighton & Hove Museums

When the peacock-blue velvet dress was first unwrapped in the Brighton & Hove Museums store, it looked luminous and robust from a distance. Close up, it told a more delicate story. Velvet pile, chiffon ruffles, sequin embellishment, and a cotton lace under-ruffle each asked to be handled differently. This dress became my best teacher during the placement, showing me that conservation is as much about listening, testing and documenting as it is about cleaning.

Peacock-blue velvet dress laid out for assessment, chiffon ruffles and cotton lace visible. Full-length blue velvet dress with chiffon ruffles and lace under-ruffle on a worktable. © Feyza Nur Bacak, 27.06.2025, Brighton & Hove Museums.

Why this dress is complex

Each material carries its own risks. Velvet crushes easily, touch can leave imprints if we work against the pile or linger too long in one spot. Chiffon ruffles are open-weave and locally abraded; fibres can snag with minimal pressure. Sequins and stitching are brittle in places, so vigorous brushing could dislodge them. The cotton lace traps dust deep in its structure, but wet methods risk dye run from the deep blue velvet. In short: one garment, many voices, and we needed to hear them in sequence, not all at once.

Stabilise first, then test

Before any interventive step, we set the dress on a covered workstation and prioritised preventive care. Guided by my supervisor, I prepared micro test areas to calibrate tools and handling. We used a low-suction vacuum with a mesh interface to diffuse airflow and avoid direct contact and tried graded brushes to find the gentlest tool that still lifted dust.

Open-weave chiffon over cotton lace; mould accumulation along edges prior to micro-tests. © Feyza Nur Bacak, 27.06.2025, Brighton & Hove Museums.

On the chiffon ruffles, the softest brush removed loose dust but struggled with consolidated deposits along edges. A slightly firmer, small-head brush, used at a shallow angle with minimal pressure, was more effective there. On velvet, the safest action was controlled vacuuming through mesh, always following the pile direction and never dwelling. These are small moves, but they are exactly where risk is managed.

Documentation that drives decisions

What surprised me most was how strongly documentation shaped our choices. Using the museum’s system aligned to Spectrum, the UK’s collections management documentation standard, we recorded tools, settings, test locations and outcomes. Those entries produced comparable records: it was easy to see that “Brush B + mesh-vacuum” on the inner ruffle achieved cleaning with no fibre lift, whereas “Brush A” risked snagging at gathers.

The records didn’t just log what we did; they justified why we selected the gentlest effective method. They also make the work traceable and repeatable for colleagues and keep mounting/display options open, because decision history is transparent. In practice, documentation turns the ethical principle of “do no harm” into day-to-day, auditable actions.

Sequin embellishment alongside fragile chiffon at the sleeve and neckline. © Feyza Nur Bacak, 27.06.2025, Brighton & Hove Museums.

Handling and movement

Moving the dress required as much planning as cleaning it. Velvet’s pile can crush under its own weight, so we supported folds with acid-free tissue and avoided sliding. Around sequins we reduced contact to the minimum and kept the vacuum nozzle further away, letting the mesh diffuse suction. These adjustments sound small, but they spell the difference between an object that merely looks clean and one that remains stable enough to interpret and display.

What I learned

This case reframed conservation for me. It is not about making something look new; it is about risk management and evidence-based judgement. The most effective work often happens before anyone notices, stabilising, testing, adjusting, and recording. I also saw how conservation operates across departments: with Collections for storage and condition checks, Exhibitions for display preparation and movement, and Events for object safety. With limited staff and time, prioritisation and minimal intervention are not just ideals, they are practical necessities.

Why this matters for dress

Garments are embodied and social artefacts. Preserving them protects material and meaning together. Choosing a gentle method for the chiffon ruffles wasn’t only about fibres; it safeguarded the dress’s visual language, its lightness, movement and decorative intent, so future audiences can still read it.

This peacock-blue dress made me want to stay in conservation, especially textiles. It taught me that patience, micro-tests and good records aren’t the slow part of the job; they are the job, and how fragile objects get a second chance in the gallery.

Sequin embellishment adjacent to fragile chiffon; cleaned using mesh-interface low-suction vacuum and a soft brush. © Feyza Nur Bacak, 27.06.205, Brighton & Hove Museums.

MA Curating Collections and Heritage alumna Tamlyn Smithers discusses how her studies at Brighton inform her work as manager of Rustington Museum

My Background

My museums career began when I volunteered in the Learning Offices for Royal Pavilion & Museums (RPM) in 2008 around classroom teaching. I had studied BA (Hons) Glass & Ceramics (University of Sunderland 1998), worked in arts and crafts in London and gained a PGCE Art & Design (University of Brighton, 2002).

Sector funding was particularly abundant at this time, and I maximised this opportunity by saying yes to every role I was offered. I supported the education team to develop schools’ newsletters, school handling sessions, teacher training days and the permanent Egypt Galleries including interactives and children’s audio recordings.

I rapidly moved from volunteer to casual employee, Museums Teacher, then covering Families Education Officer. In this role I delivered a Private View for the Land Girls exhibition and supported the curator in delivering family events and gallery interactives for a World War Two Exhibition. I delivered a large-scale family event: Diwali: Festival of Light with the Hindu Women’s group, managing a large team of volunteers and staff.

A later freelance role I particularly enjoyed was Collections Use Review researcher, with an aim to develop audience access at RPM. At this stage in my broad experience, I found I had capacity to engage at depth under the premise of research reporting historic use and the creative scope for future recommendations.

Master’s degree

I went on to gain my MA Curating Collections & Heritage from Brighton. Joining in the first year of the course, the pandemic meant we extended our course deadline by six months, graduating in 2022.

The course both consolidated and extended my experience and knowledge within the sector. As a neurodiverse student, I found seminars and reading materials stimulating and an opportunity to hear from other voices in subject matter as well as my colleague students, university staff and guest presenters.

At the end of 2024 I was working as a Transition Coordinator in East Sussex College. From this position it was an appropriate step for me to apply for the role of Museum Manager for Rustington Museum in West Sussex. I had attended a few interviews in the interim since graduating and was fairly experienced at this key process.

I felt ready for this role, dedicated a week to prepare, thoroughly researching my presentation on audience development. This meant I enjoyed presenting and discussing my application and the role with the interview panel. I was offered the job the same day, gladly accepted and began in January 2025.

Current vantage

Rustington Museum is overseen by Rustington Parish Council who have been entirely supportive of my endeavours. I oversee all areas of the museum. Under broader social justice and de-colonisation, my priority is community access provision.

As a micro, village museum I manage our Museum Assistant, our volunteer staff support events and keep in-touch with neighbouring museums. I follow and attend the Sussex Museums Group meetings and training and stay up to date with the sector via Association of Independent Museums (AIM) and the Museums Association (MA).

As this role is permanent, my perspective is to framework short, mid and long-term objectives. My previous experience of short-term project work means I am motivated by the scope and the sense of building the next phase of the museum. This career stage allows for me to build my own practice alongside the development of Rustington Museum.

Temporary Gallery with At Home In Rustington Exhibition April – June 2025

BA (Hons) Art History and Visual Culture student Lei Appleyard reflects on working at Liberation Art Gallery

For my placement module, I had the amazing experience of working at Liberation Art Gallery, a gallery carefully and thoughtfully run by Caroline Pendray, a licensed art therapist with a passion for making art accessible to all. I collaborated closely with a dedicated team comprised of skilled art therapists, attentive stewards, and talented resident artists, all of whom created a supportive and creative atmosphere for me to work in. The gallery itself consists of three main spaces, a main floor gallery, a workshop/gallery space, and a therapy room situated in the attic. 

During my time at the gallery, I undertook a variety of administrative tasks including answering emails, taking phone calls, dealing with enquiries about sales, and chasing up buyer details. I also had the exciting opportunity to engage directly with patrons by selling artworks, which not only honed my sales skills but also deepened my appreciation for the artists’ work. I played a role in ensuring the smooth operation of the gallery, contributing to the overall visitor experience by maintaining a welcoming and informative environment.

After completing my required hours, I made the decision to continue my involvement at the gallery, drawn in by its inclusive and nurturing community. I felt truly valued by my colleagues, which motivated me to take on more responsibilities, including volunteering myself for extra days and taking over last minute workshops when it was needed of me. I also learned about the intricate process of curating shows, managing a submissions board, and creating a shortlist of artist proposals and works that resonated with the vision of each exhibition.

In addition, I became a part of the passionate team of workshop leaders, meaning I was able to experience some of the many workshops available at the gallery, most notably running the “Paint and Sip” workshops, during which people can come along to our lovely space, and have a few hours to relax with a glass of prosecco, a paintbrush, and their friends! I stepped into the role of leading painting workshops offered at Liberation, which not only allowed me to share my creativity with others but also let me explore my aspiration of becoming an art teacher. Running and leading these workshops was incredibly fulfilling for me, and it encouraged me to consider further opportunities for leading art education initiatives in the future.

Overall, my time at Liberation Art Gallery has been extremely rewarding, and I am eager to continue my journey there for as long as possible, nurturing my passion for art and teaching within such a vibrant community. The experience was a smooth one, with only a few bumps along the way, all ones that got quickly ironed out, and any questions I had being answered as soon as I would ask them. I have enjoyed this experience more than I can put into words, I am hopeful for what this gallery continues to bring me, as well as feeling extremely thankful for the opportunities given to me by both my course leader, Harriet, who set up the placement, and also to the wonderful Caroline, who ensured I never felt lost while learning my place at this amazing gallery. 

Preksha Kothari is Programme Coordinator at Shrine Empire Gallery in New Delhi, and also a graduate of the Curating Collections and Heritage master’s programme. In this blog post, she reflects on her current professional priorities, and how the discussions and texts she encountered on the MA Curating helped sharpen her aims for the sector.

Currently, I am working as the Programme Coordinator at Shrine Empire, one of the leading contemporary art galleries of India and their non-profit venture, the Prameya Art Foundation. Located in New Delhi, we are working towards critically expanding and engaging with emerging contemporary art practices through our programming.

Almost a year into this position, I work on multiple avenues, including working closely with curators and artists for exhibition set-up, creating content for social media, and coordinating the various grants and awards that the Foundation offers to artists and curators in South Asia. Working in the contemporary arts in India has given me a deep insight into research, the history of contemporary arts, and its usage politically by minoritised and marginalised communities to reclaim spaces denied to them.

As the Programme Coordinator, I constantly recall and utilize the various concepts and debates that I studied in my MA Curating Collections and Heritage. One specific notion that is ever present is to make the institutions as accessible as possible, which was introduced to me for the first time while studying the Museums and Collections in Context module. We recently went bilingual for all exhibition texts from our September exhibition onwards. We will also be getting an accessibility audit in 2025 to take further steps to open our space to a diverse variety of audience, because ultimately, art is meant for sharing.

My favourite part about working as a Programme Coordinator is conversing with the visitors and giving them walkthroughs of our exhibitions. Also, working directly with curators and artists has immensely helped me in figuring out my own research interests, the nuances of exhibition making, and how the South Asian context applies to this.

Prameya Art Foundation is a nomadic institution, a direct response to the lack of institutional spaces in the region. With an objective to expand and collaborate with alternative practices and an expansive approach to arts, the foundation engages with arts organisations across the South Asian region and globally to foster critical conversations surrounding the arts. At the foundation, I primarily coordinate the many grants and residency programmes we have for emerging creative practitioners, and undertake curatorial research and writing for projects. Studying the MA helped me put into practice critical thinking and writing, which we were always encouraged to pursue through modules like Critical Perspectives on Exhibitions.

My recent projects have been completing proposals for international art fairs, assisting in curatorial research for a video exhibition programme, and creating a new Instagram series called ArtFridayFeature, that focuses on our gallery artists and highlighting their artistic practice for a particular work they want featured.

Image caption: Installation view, Debris Collector,  a solo exhibition by Anoli Perera, Shrine Empire