Welcome to RAAD
Welcome to the blog for RAAD - the Centre for Research in Art and Design at Birmingham City University. We are a community of artists, designers, makers, thinkers and writers. We believe that creative practice in art, architecture, and design matters and that it can make a difference - transforming individuals, communities, and society. In our research we collaborate, explore, and share knowledge in order to make a difference.
11 Mile NearFuture Pluriversity
From 13-16 March 2026 RAAD researchers Becky Shaw and Cathy Wade took part in the 11 Mile NearFuture Pluriversity - a group of artists, researchers, educators, planners and historians working together to think about the future value of Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal UNESCO World Heritage site (WHS) as a sustainable and equitable tourism and lifelong learning model…
Finding AFFINITIES
Last month RAAD researcher Becky Shaw participated in Finding affinities: Doing practice-research in non-arts contexts, an event organised as part of The Guildhall School’s ResearchWorks programme.
Last christmas
Last Christmas is an exhibition by Becky Shaw opening at Black Box Project Space, University of the Creative Arts, Farnham this month.
Making space for Keeping Warm
For the past three years Becky Shaw has been a co-lead on Just Heat, an international research project that explores people’s experiences of energy change since 1940. The focus of the project was to explore how the social, political and emotional meaning of home heating could inform current change.