CVAN London has been generously hosted by Director Haidy Geismar at the new School for the Creative and Cultural Industries (SCCI), UCL East, Stratford. The network’s residency began as the university campus opened its doors for the first time. UCL East is a founding partner of East Bank, a new powerhouse for innovation, creativity and learning on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, along with the BBC, Sadlers Wells, The V&A and UAL: London College of Fashion.

Director Jo Townshend has worked in close partnership with Haidy to facilitate the introductions for network members to the School’s staff, students, curatorial spaces and public engagement opportunities. Haidy quote  “It was a pleasure to share our spaces at UCL East with CVAN London and to foster new ways of working together. As a result of this residency, we have seen the start of many collaborations and the development of exciting opportunities for our staff and students to engage with the visual arts community.”

Claudel Goy & Nimrod Vardi, Directors of arebyte made a visit to UCL East and met Brigitta Zics, Head of BA Media programme to discuss shared interests in digital arts. Following this introduction arebyte are hosting work placements for BA Media students, planning a residency with a public outcome at the gallery for the next academic year and are exploring longer term partnership opportunities. Reflecting on the new partnership, Managing Director Claudel Goy says, ‘Very fruitful collaborations lie ahead of us!’.