Students from Hereford College of Arts (HCA) are keeping the exhibition scene in Hereford thriving by opening a new exhibition at Hereford Museum and Art Gallery next month. Instant Fish will open from 20th February until 3rd March, and will showcase work inspired by the museum’s collections and created by the Extended Diploma in Art and Design students.

As part of HCA’s continuing emphasis on engaging its students with Hereford, and its communities, students visited the museum and explored a number of the collections held there. Each student has chosen an object, and used this as a catalyst to develop a piece of work in response. In the exhibition, many of the museum objects and the student work will be shown side by side.

Working with Hereford Museum’s Learning and Resource Centre has given many of the students a new opportunity to find out about the museum’s many collections, and has helped to develop their knowledge of the culture sector. It also allows them to think more broadly about using the skills they develop on their course in an employment context – by seeing all the different directions their diploma could take them in – from working in design, to further arts study, or working in a cultural organisation such as a museum or gallery.

Course Leader at HCA, Darren Williams, said, “Instant Fish has been a brilliant project to watch the students work on. The title refers to a four-line poem by Peter Porter, in which he describes fish being animated by the addition of water. In this exhibition, the students are the water, and the museum objects are the fish!”

The exhibition will be open until Saturday, March 3. Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday, 10am-4pm, Saturday, 10.30am-12.30pm.