By BBS, For BBS: A Co-Created Artwork

An audio description of the artwork and what it means, read by Anita Lateano

This artwork brings together many individual voices into a single, shared expression of what it means to belong at the business school. Composed of layered colours, textures and marks, it invites close looking and reflection, revealing different stories, identities and connections depending on where you stand and what you notice.

Created as part of the Decolonisation Project, the piece responds to a wider conversation about representation, belonging and the role of physical space within the School. It stands as a visual reminder that institutions are shaped not only by their buildings and histories, but by the people who inhabit them. Rather than presenting a fixed narrative, the artwork remains open and evolving, reflecting the diversity, complexity and plurality of School’s community.

Seen together, the many contributions form something larger than any single perspective: a collective presence that is bold, vibrant and rooted in collaboration. As you spend time with the piece, you may begin to notice overlaps, contrasts and unexpected connections. What resonates with you? What feels familiar, and what invites you to see the space, and those within it, differently?

Why, and how it was made

Our research across the school has highlighted how space plays an important part in making people feel welcome. Through taking a closer look at teaching, research, operations and culture, we have learned that belonging is important to people across Birmingham Business School, but not always felt.

Staff and students’ feedback via surveys, interviews and creative workshops told us that they would like to feel more represented and welcome in the physicality of the School.

Central to this effort is collaborating with students and staff across the Business School to understand their needs and enhance their representation within University House. Activities have included poetry workshops and surveys to gather student experiences and desires, ensuring proposed changes are relevant and impactful. More recently, we worked in collaboration with artist Carol Pairaudeau put on a two-day workshop to create a piece of art to hang in University House.

Over the two days, we invited over 80 students and staff to come together and create their own piece of art which represents themselves. The first day had participants make their own prints, incorporating their own histories and identities into their artworks, which were then transformed on the second day into a collage, encapsulating all the identities of everyone who is a part of Birmingham Business School to create the final piece.

Carol Pairaudeau, the artist who helped facilitate the workshop said “the participants embraced the opportunity to try something very different and created a fabulous array of prints. The discussion on Day 2 established a design direction and with an amazingly collaborative effort the piece was resolved by the end of the day. It is rich in content, holding so many personal stories within the overarching theme”.