Cambridge Visual Culture
Events Strategy
March 2023

The CVC organises events across the academic year for a diverse audience from the University of Cambridge and the city. There are two main strands: one led by the CVC Co-Directors informed by the CVC Steering Committee and a second, responsive strand drawn from proposals from the community. The first strand will include public events, closed workshops, and events run within our programme of Visiting Research Fellows.

Aims
1. To support and advocate for the development of cross-disciplinary visual culture research and teaching in Cambridge
2. To convene a community of researchers and develop our research environment, with a focus on early career and graduate researchers
3. To increase the diversity of voices in the study of the visual at Cambridge
4. To provide a platform for our Visiting Research Fellows
5. To incubate larger, cross-disciplinary projects that may lead to future collaborations, exhibitions, and REF Impact Case Studies

Principles
Cross- or interdisciplinary: events should be cross- or interdisciplinary, which might be achieved in the following ways:
Led by multiple researchers from different departments
Hosted in a space that is not the lead researcher’s home department
Employs a range of methodologies on visual collections
Co-branded and co-organised with other research networks
Media: we will seek to host one event each year that focuses on the following media:
a. Painting
b. Works on paper
c. Sculpture
d. Built environment
e. Time-based media
f. Decorative/applied arts
g. Theatre
h. Design
i. Fashion
Diversity: we will seek to ensure speakers and subjects are diverse in terms of geography, ethnicity, and gender. Events will be free to ensure as wide as possible access.
Format: our events could comprise lectures, in-conversations, workshops with visual material and seminars.
Venues and frequency: we will use a range of spaces across Cambridge, provide online access where possible and seek to host at least two keynote events per term, with smaller events.

Processes
Proactive strand: the CVC Quad, supported by the CVC Steering Group will instigate and design events to support the strategic aims of the CVC.
Responsive strand: CVC welcomes proposals for events from across our community, which can be supported by CVC through the provision of administrative, financial, and digital marketing support. Events can be proposed by anyone, using our form, at the latest in the term before.
Each event will have a CVC Director as sponsor, and will be administered by the CVC Coordinator, and promoted via the CVC website and social media channels.

This events strategy will be reviewed annually by the CVC Steering Group.