Nina O’Reilly


King’s Cross (Nina O’Reilly, 2024)

Bio


I am an PhD researcher at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London.Originally from Ireland, I have lived in London for over a decade, and have experience working in academic publishing and UK Higher Education.

My PhD research follows a utopian theoretical methodology which uses radical and subcultural local history to appraise urban regeneration in King’s Cross, London and dream of alternative urban futures. My previous research has focused on music and queer subcultures as well as DIY publishing practices.

My qualifications include a PgCert in Academic Practice for Art, Design, Education (University of the Arts London), an MA in Publishing (Oxford Brookes University), an MA in Gender, Sexuality, Culture (University College Dublin), and a BA International in English and French (National University of Ireland, Maynooth/ Aix-Marseille Université). 

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Research


King’s Crossings: art, culture, and regeneration in King's Cross, London from the 1980s to 2020s. (UAL Postgraduate Researcher Autumn Symposium, University of the Arts London,  1 November 2024)
Symposium presentation
King’s Cross-Pollination: art, music, cinema and activitism in a 1980s postindustrial wasteland (KISMIF conference, University of Porto, 10-13 July 2024 )
Symposium presentation

X Y ZINE: How a new generation of zine makers are challenging mainstream media and why publishers should take notice (Oxford Brookes University, 2016)  
Thesis - MA Publishing
Are We Not Men? Dissident Masculinities in American Music from 1980s -2010s  
(University College Dublin, 2012)
Thesis - MA Gender, Sexuality, Culture 

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Projects


Sound Waves Music in Newham (Rendezvous Project, 2024-2025)I am an oral historian for this music heritage project in the London Borough of Newham. Oral histories will feature in the project’s 2025 culminating exhibition and publication and will be further stored in Newham Archives.
Press Play (Play exhibition, Central Saint Martins, 2025)This moving image piece follows a dérive around King’s Cross featured in this exhibition at the Central Saint Martins.
The Head. The Heart. The Hand. (Lethaby Gallery, Central Saint Martins, 2025)I was a co-curator and organiser for this exhibition in the Lethaby window galleries in February 2025.
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