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Post-Grad Portraits: Dr Joshua Y'Barbo

Written byPost-Grad Community
Published date 04 March 2024

A series of interviews with alumni from across UAL, Post-Grad Portraits is a chance to highlight the achievements of postgrads from the last decade. Post-Grad Portraits is part of our celebration of Post-Grad Community's 10 year anniversary.

Dr Joshua Y'Barbo

PhD in Art Theory, History and Practice, Chelsea College of Arts 2022

Hello Dr Joshua! Could you introduce yourself?

Hello! My name is Dr Joshua Y'Barbo. I have professional experience as a research fellow in co-design, as well as being a practising artist with an interdisciplinary studio practice.

My expertise lies in participatory art and design, freelance consultancy as an artist-in-residence, and cross-disciplinary lecturing. I graduated with a PGDip in Fine Art in 2009, an MA in Fine Art in 2010, and a PhD in Art Theory, History, and Practice in 2022, all from Chelsea College of Arts. Although I'm originally from the United States, I have now settled in the UK.

Tell us about what you do now.

I am a member of the academic staff at Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon Colleges (CCW), where I teach several undergraduate and postgraduate design courses and provide academic support to students. Besides being a teacher, I am also an artist and have been practising studio art for nineteen years. My work combines printing-making and painting with photography, graphic design, critical thinking, critical pedagogy, and practice-related research methods.

Currently, I am researching the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and exploring knowledge exchange with private and third-sector organizations. I am also conducting an in-depth literature review on engagement with the creative industries to meet these goals. Besides this, I am an artist-in-residence for the TEAM LEWIS Foundation, where I curate the Foundation's annual emerging artists exhibition. These exhibitions have featured hundreds of recent graduates from Chelsea College of Art since I started curating in 2016.

In addition to my teaching and research work, I write and deliver Art Clubs on easily relatable themes from art history and contemporary art. I also generate original creative content across various media channels, including interviews with artists, essays, examples of my studio practices, and press releases for exhibitions I've curated.

event poster — **Dr Joshua Y'Barbo, UAL PhD Graduate 2022, Chelsea College of Arts | image credt: The Art Club series,** **Art Club: Racism Nope! Nope! Nope!**

What's your proudest moment?

My proudest moment professionally was when I unconditionally passed my PhD in 2022, which I had started in 2013. During my academic journey, I had to face several setbacks, including personal losses and struggles in learning new skills, which caused a delay of 9.5 years before completing my degree.

On a personal level, my proudest moment was when my daughter was born. Her arrival reignited a spiritual sense of purpose in me and a strong dedication towards environmental, racial, and social justice, so that she can have a safe and healthy planet to live on.

What’s your biggest strength?

I am a teacher who has a great ability to quickly form productive relationships through my interpersonal skills. I integrate feminist, critical pedagogies, and social-based practices into my work with students by using a dialogical approach to discuss problems and possible solutions. I encourage a cross-disciplinary approach to making work, presenting critical arguments, and working with students based on their needs and concerns.

By maintaining a problem-solving and dialogical approach, I understand a range of international, EU, and UK students' experiences, which I use to enable them to think and act critically in individual and group projects.

What's your biggest weakness?

My biggest weakness is my unconscious biases as a white, heterosexual, middle-class male, but I work hard to acknowledge my blind spots by allying with students, staff, and communities that do not share the same privileges. For example,

I have built and maintained productive relationships with diverse students from many international and ethnic backgrounds and promoted gender and racial equality through open dialogue with students. As a result, I write and deliver lessons and assess students' research and studio work with equality, diversity, and inclusivity in mind.

What's the biggest learning experience you've had?

One of my most significant learning experiences took place during my education at Chelsea College of Arts. Specifically, I coordinated Chelsea Salon with fellow student Laura Carew in 2009, as part of my MA Fine Art studies.

These salons allowed us to experiment with practical teaching both inside and outside of the University of the Arts London (UAL), providing students with the opportunity to collaborate, network, and share skills in real-life situations, such as within galleries and museums.

We worked with MA Fine Art students across CCW until 2016, with invaluable support from the UAL Post-Grad Community since its formation.

In 2013, I was awarded a fully-funded studentship to conduct practice-related research on Chelsea Salon. This research gave me advanced knowledge of participatory art and design, cultural and creative economies, aesthetic and social values, and prosocial contributions to communities compared to socially engaged art for galleries.

Through this, I gained experience in qualitative and textual analysis, and multiple approaches to academic research and writing. I continue to use these skills across my roles at CCW.

What's your favourite artwork?

I love Derek Boshier’s Identit-kit Man (1962) because I had the opportunity to meet the artist during my BFA program in Texas, where he was giving a lecture. I volunteered to chauffeur him around and later moved to LA where I worked in his studio while also working at the Robert Berman Gallery.

Throughout my time with him, Derek encouraged me to apply to Chelsea College of Arts and wrote a letter of recommendation.

I have repeatedly visited Tate Britain to look at the work and reflect on how I got here through chance meetings and quickly forming relationships with people. No other artwork, save my own, has as much personal significance to me.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I have been employed on a zero-hour contract at UAL since 2013, which means that my work is uncertain, and I must constantly apply for different roles. I am never quite sure what my work will look like more than three months in advance.

Therefore, in the next ten years, I hope to secure a professorship position in a reputable HE art and design institution. I aim to contribute my practical knowledge, collaborative skills, and participatory art expertise, as well as my critical, feminist pedagogies training, to provide high-quality education and generate knowledge exchange across academic, private, and third sectors.

Additionally, I hope to establish my artmaking career by selling and exhibiting my work, alongside teaching and research.

Where can people find out more about your work?