Discover more about the four pairs of students who took part in FX Creative 2024 at the Penryn Campus.

2024 marked two years of the FX Creative Together, a unique knowledge and skills exchange programme celebrates and capitalises on the rich interdisciplinary environment of the Penryn campus, bringing together University of Exeter and Falmouth University students for a 40-hour paid creative internship throughout June.
The 2024 collaborations explored the fascinating theme of ‘living systems’ with students combining their personal and research interests to develop a final creative output.
Collaborating in 2024 were:
I am really thrilled that from all the strong applications we received, we have selected such a diverse and enthusiastic group of students from across both Universities and across disciplines who, from day one, are bursting with fantastic ideas.
The 2024 FX Creative Together programme was supported by Arts and Culture student intern Joseph Mathers, who was, at the time, in his third year studying Politics and International Relations at the University of Exeter’s, Department for Humanities and Social Sciences at Penryn.
Joseph was part of the pilot FX Creative Together programme in 2023 where he collaborated with Falmouth University, Creative Music Technology student, Toby Sadgrove on ‘The Unconscious Front’, a sound-art piece sensitively exploring the dreams of those affected by the war in Ukraine.
Taking part in the initial FX Creative Together project was an incredibly enriching experience on so many levels. Being able to work closely with a Falmouth University student was totally new for me, and I learnt so much from Toby’s unique outlook as a musician. I am very excited to see what skills and perspectives our next cohort of interns will bring to the table.
The creative outputs generated from the 2024 collaborations were displayed at Grays Wharf Gallery, Penryn between the 23rd and 27th July 2024 as part of a month-long exhibition learn from a bird. This exhibition celebrated the power of the cross-disciplinary creative exchanges happening at the Penryn campus showcasing collaborations between artists, researchers, staff, and students.
Alongside creative outputs from the 2024 cohort of FX Creative Together students, visitors were also able to view the creative outputs the 2023 programme, all of which creatively explored the theme of conflict.
This project is wonderful example of the benefits of having two excellent but distinctive universities sharing a campus. Falmouth's undergraduate learning culture has collaboration at its heart, not only reflecting the reality of working in the creative industries but also enabling students to explore stimulating and often unexpected creative opportunities. It is clear that participants from both institutions have got a lot out of it and as the course leader of one of the contributing interns, I am really thrilled that the our university is part of this.
The ability to share research, practice and cultures at this local level, opens the doors for national and international opportunities for all of the students involved, and I’m sure will inspire many more collaborations in future. I can’t wait to see the results of this multidisciplinary collaboration at the exhibition in July.
This year’s FX Creative Together programme has been funded by Arts and Culture, University of Exeter (Cornwall), Falmouth University, and in partnership with the University of Exeter, Cornwall’s Department for Humanities and Social Sciences, The Centre for Ecology and Conservation (CEC), and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (DEES) on Penryn Campus.
The FX Creative Together project is an exciting opportunity for Humanities and Social Sciences students in Cornwall to express and communicate the interests and knowledge they have developed in their study in new and creative ways by working with their peers from Falmouth University. The project speaks to our departmental aims of working in innovative and collaborative ways.
We are delighted that a student from Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences has been selected for this exciting inter-disciplinary collaboration with Falmouth University arts-based students. The theme of ‘Living Systems’ seems rooted in what we focus on here in Cornwall so we’re really excited to see how the collaborating pair will interpret the theme together’.
I’m thrilled that our students have this opportunity to collaborate on projects with our Falmouth colleagues. It’s a fantastic opportunity to share knowledge and experience and for our science students to develop their creative skills.