How Sunderland students are exploring the ‘Monumental’ in a collaborative art exhibition

Published on 29, October, 2025

Students from the University of Sunderland have been part of a collaborative exhibition at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art (NGCA), which explores the theme of monumental structures.

Over the last six months, Fine Art students at the University have selected an artwork from the collection which will be exhibited next to their own work as part of the exhibition – Monumental.

The exhibit examines monumental structures, be it public sculptural monuments, giant vapour trails, melting Icelandic glaciers, crystallised desert landscapes, state systems, or the miner’s cage near Easington Colliery.

This project saw students explore the NGCA’s collection to see how it relates to their own art practices, which helped inform their own work.

Fiona Larkin, Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at the University of Sunderland, said: “Engaging with authentic, hands-on approaches to learning, through curating and responding to the NGCA collection, has been enormously beneficial for our Fine Art BA students.

“Through this experience, they have explored meaningful connections and influences drawn from the artworks within the collection. The resulting student works either complement the existing pieces or offer a challenge and provocation, contributing fresh perspectives to the established narrative of the collection.”

Since 2006, Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art has acquired over 500 artworks by more than 50 artists or artist collectives with a focus on, but not limited to, lens-based media and the north-east of England. Today, the collection continues to grow and is widely loaned across the north-east of England and the United Kingdom.

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Jon Weston, Curator of Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, said: “It has been a pleasure to work alongside staff and students at the University of Sunderland Fine Art over the last 6 months to develop the exhibition Monumental.

“The Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art has a strong and diverse collection of contemporary artwork, and seeing these artworks examined, challenged and interpreted from the perspective of committed and rising second (now third) year Fine Art students is exactly what the collection is for.

“The students explored what monumental means, both in the production of art and in wider society. This has led to a striking and thought-provoking selection of artworks on display within the exhibition. Expanding on their choices, the students are also showing their own artwork, offering personal connections and further readings.”

Monumental will be open to the public from 25 October 2025 till 14 February 2026 in the Sunderland Creatives Gallery at the National Glass Centre. Find out more about the exhibition here.

If you are interested in studying Fine Art at the University of Sunderland, find out more here.