National recognition for archives
Design archives at the University of Brighton have received national recognition with grants totalling £180,000.
The funding, £60,000 in each of the next three years, has been awarded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). This is the first time Brighton’s archives have received HEFCE funding and it positions the university alongside well established archive museums and collections such as the Whitworth Art Gallery at Manchester and the Fitzwilliam at Cambridge. The archives, housed in the Faculty of Arts in Grand Parade, Brighton, hold 18 collections of visual and textual designs aimed at enhancing understanding of the designed environment, the design profession and design practise. Their main focus is British design in the twentieth century and there is much of significance relating to the graphic and industrial design professions internationally. Photographs and documents from the archives are used regularly in exhibitions, publications and for teaching and research.
Dr Catherine Moriarty, curatorial director, said:
“Building a group of archives that are now recognized as having international significance is a major coup.
“We have argued and demonstrated their research value long and hard and it is a real achievement for our small team, for the faculty and for the university.”
The funding followed a review of university museums and galleries, led by Sir Muir Russell, which resulted in HEFCE widening the remit of the university collections eligible for funding. Among other new names receiving recognition are the Women’s Library at London Metropolitan University and the British Cartoon Archive at Kent University.
To learn more about the University of Brighton’s design archives, click here.
