Have a look out for some of our new artwork on campus, including Habitat a specially commissioned sculpture to mark our 50th anniversary.

Habitat by David Nash

A former artist-in-residence at the University, David Nash is regarded as one of the greatest sculptors working today. The sculpture is a seven metre high column of cedar that has been shaped and carved to not only look beautiful but to provide shelter for birds, bats and insects.

I chose this site for the sculpture to be a signal for the biodiversity Diamond Wood will become in the future. The sculpture will change over the years, becoming part of the wood’s eco-system as it weathers and creatures inhabit it.” David Nash

The artwork has been sited at the entrance to the Diamond Wood which itself is a new plantation on campus. Diamond Wood is to the south-west of the campus on the Sustrans cycle path.

Global Oracle by Alec Finlay

For Global Oracle, Navstar satellites have been re-constructed, using traditional thatching techniques, as nests for solitary bees. The work explores the relationship between bee behaviour and navigation; prophecy in ancient Greece and our contemporary oracles of the smart phone and satnav. During a visit to the campus in Spring 2015 to teach in the English department, Finlay was inspired by the development of the Jam Grove and proposed this as a site for his Global Oracle. It is underplanted with bee-friendly plants to aid pollination of the fruit trees.

The oracle at Delphi was sacred to bees, presided over by the Melissae: seers high on ‘green’ honey. Our 'buzz' is the honey of star-fallen communication. The prophetic power of our devices depends on an oracular swarm of satellites with their wings tilted to the sun. Vessels are controlled by the US airforce and Delphi is twinned with Schreiver airforce who employ the same system for their spy 'drones'."Alec Finlay

Global Oracle can be found on the Westwood campus.

50th anniversary

We have a host of events ongoing on campus during our 50th anniversary year including our Warwick's Festival of the Imagination which will take place on 16-17 October 2015 and will be the centrepiece of our 50th anniversary celebrations! We'll be showcasing the work we do at Warwick through a diverse programme of events all focused around the central theme 'Imagining the Future'.

Have a look at our programme of events so far...