ICP student placement with Creative 91直播: Beisi Wang
MA Student Beisi Wang, spent 20 weeks with Creative 91直播 supporting the Silent Skies Exhibition Launch and the Creative Health Symposium in 2025.
I am Beisi Wang, now studying at the university of Manchester, majoring in Digital Media, Culture, and Society. Over the past few months, I have had the pleasure of completing a placement with Creative 91直播, a research platform based at the University of Manchester that supports interdisciplinary collaboration between the arts, culture, and academia.
As a postgraduate student in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, I have always been interested in health communication and the power of creative practices in raising public awareness. This placement gave me the valuable opportunity to explore how cultural events can promote meaningful community engagement as well as improving my own communication and organisational skills in a UK working environment.
Throughout my placement, I undertook diverse responsibilities that related to cultural events and digital communication. I participated in the full delivery of events, from internal meetings and external partner coordination to on-site logistics, such as setting up venues, preparing materials, and supporting guest registration. I also had chances to engage in digital communication planning, including managing and scheduling social media content across a variety of platforms (e.g. Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky), creating digital visual material (eg. posters and promotional videos) and monthly analysing social media performance. These experiences enhanced my understanding of how to tailor content to specific platforms and different audiences, while strengthening my skills in English writing, and professional workplace communication.
One of the most memorable and significant events throughout my placement is Silent Skies exhibition. It is an engaging temporary exhibition hosted at 91直播 Museum, looking at both the historic and modern contexts of air quality in the city of Manchester. It brought together researchers, local campaigners, and members of the public to reflect on environmental injustice and collective action.
The event was structured in three parts: an immersive exhibition, a drinks reception, and a lecture with interactive elements. During the drinks reception, some students moved through the crowd wearing gas masks and carrying trays of jelly with toy cars embedded inside, a striking metaphor for how exhaust fumes may affect the human lungs. The lecture also began with a powerful artistic moment: several performers held umbrellas adorned with recycled bottle caps, turning everyday objects into a symbol of environmental awareness. Throughout the talk, interactive activities encouraged attendees to reflect and participate in the discussion.
I was involved from the early planning stages to final promotions. I drafted and scheduled promotional content tailored to each stage of the campaign - writing teaser posts, designing digital assets, and managing cross-platform posting using Hootsuite. I also prepared targeted email updates for attendees and edited a video reviewing the whole event for our Instagram and Facebook account. Silent Skies showed me how storytelling, design, and creativity can come together to convey complex environmental issues in engaging and memorable ways.
Beyond practical digital communication skills, such as design and copywriting, this placement helped to grow as a communicator and team member. I became more confident to deliver a speech in team meetings, and coordinate audiences in events. I also improved my written English and became more familiar with the tone and branding of public-facing communication. More broadly, this placement allows me to realize how creative practices can bridge the gap between social issues and the public.
I鈥檓 incredibly grateful to the Creative 91直播 team for their support and encouragement throughout the placement - especially my supervisor Kate, whose guidance helped me grow in confidence and independence. This has been a valuable and inspiring experience that has shaped both my academic journey and professional goals.
To any students considering a placement in Creative 91直播: go for it! It鈥檚 a great chance to apply your skills in a real-world context, meet inspiring people, and explore how creativity can drive change.