The festival, which opened the Mayflower 2020 commemorative year, featured work from artists including internationally renowned visual composer and friend of the college, Xavi Bové, as well as our animation graduate Ada Krzoska.

BA (Hons) Animation, BA (Hons) Game Arts, BA (Hons) Fine Art, BA (Hons) Costume Production & Associated Crafts and BA (Hons) Digital Media Production students were introduced to Xavi Bové in a digital guest lecture, where the Spanish artist spoke about his work, motivations and production methods, giving students the option to respond to Tree of Memory in the work that they would create for Illuminate 2019.

BA (Hons) Animation student Oliver Hughes said: “I worked with Xavi on a piece called Earth to Earth, which was projected onto the Mills Bakery in Royal William Yard. The brief was to create something about the Mayflower and capture themes that also raised awareness of environmental issues. I really enjoyed the process of creating the 2D and 3D animations and it was great to work with someone who’s such a specialist in his field. It was insightful to see the process of how Xavi manages his workflow. I'd definitely do something like this again if the chance comes up. It’s not every day that your work is projected onto the side of a building!”

BA (Hons) Animation graduate Ada Krzoska made her debut as an artist this year, after previously working as part of the Euranim project and assisting with projections during her time studying with us. Her piece, Trinity, in collaboration with Dan Sumner, features three sculptures, each representing a different aspect of the festival’s theme.

Ada said: “I began my journey with Illuminate three years ago through the Euranim project. Last year, I helped with a projection on the Melville Building and this year I decided to apply. I got through with my piece called Trinity, that explores three Roman deities, each of which touching on different aspects of festival and humanity. Illuminate has helped me to find my way as an artist by working with different aspects of light, and helped me connect with people in the industry that I couldn’t have met anywhere else. I love how it changes every year, it’s always really different but just as good! It’s been just as exciting this year, a little more stressful as a part of it was in my hands, but this just proves to me that I can do it!”

BA (Hons) Game Arts student Sam Grotzke said: "A collaborative group of BA (Hons) Costume Production & Associated Crafts and BA (Hons) Game Arts students worked together for the first time this year to create an installation based on the past, present and future. To this end, costumes from three different periods were created and Game Arts students produced original work to project onto these costumes in The Orangery at Mount Edgcumbe. The opportunity to work in such a beautiful space was very exciting."

Illuminate 2019 is part of the iMayflower project and has been supported by The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, who fund the Cultural Development Fund, which is administered by Arts Council England. iMayflower is delivered in partnership with Creative England, Crowdfunder, Destination Plymouth, Plymouth City Council, Plymouth College of Art, Real Ideas and University of Plymouth.

You can find the full list of the students from Plymouth College of Art, supported by The Media Workshop, who participated in Illuminate 2019 below:

From The Til Now
Lauren Clayton, Dru Tibby, Connor Balldock, Rowan Cornish

Past, Present and Future
Holly Richardson, Grace Rathbone, Rosie Bave, Emmett Wadham, Jade Trbojevich

Nanobot Building
Doug Clarke, Matt Lake, Steve Lake, Robin Lovejoy, Harvey Melvin Harris

Blast to the Past
Awais Khan, Jamie Stuart, Callum Mitchell, Cameron Charles, Jack Gibney

Fin-ale
Jordan Hardy, Sami Vickery, Toby Shephard, Jamie Good

A Message For Tomorrow
Maurice Hayman, Maya Lenton, Sam Grotzke, Amber Layton, Tyler Ottey, Tom Wise

Building a Future
Christopher Spereall-Mood, George Harris

Big Dragon Crashes Party
Joseph Maynard, Kacper Bernacki, Chloe Carpenter, Ellesse Woodward, Sofia Ricci

The Weight of the World
Aimee Fuller, Alexander Waller, Chloe Drew, Jess Freeguard-White

Cycle of the Earth
Elaine Pope, Sam Elliot

HeartBeat
Kane Milne, Zak Johnson

Earth to Earth
Shannon Bone, Eve Oxinou, Oliver Hughes, Kenneth Holberg, Lauren Baker

Voyages
Jess Mitchell-Fowle, Sophie Parker, Brandon Bailey

Space
Matt Kelly, Jess Rudy, Sky Griffiths, Charlotte Wishart

Nature Can Do Without Us
Jess Whitehouse, Lauren Wilson, Emily Rix

James Reader, Harry Bird, Cloe Stannard, Tom Sandell, Angus Stuart Smith, Ceri Prowse, Emmett Wadham, Holly Richardson, Grace Rathbone, Roseanna Bava, Jade Trbojecvich

All images courtesy of Pippa Lear & Maria Barham-Black, BA (Hons) Photography students