As the building project of the new Faculty of Arts building gets fully underway, a time capsule was buried beneath it to represent the past, the present and the future.

The past section contained a brief history of the current Humanities Building and of the Faculty of Arts compiled by Dr Kathryn Woods Faculty, Director of Student Experience for the Faculty, and Professor Stephen Shapiro, Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies.

To represent the present the latest copy of The Boar was included, along with a copy of the Coventry Telegraph (dated 19 November). Along with these are a copy of the commencement ceremony proceedings and a University brochure From Shakespeare to Sonic: Creative Industries of Coventry and Warwickshire (including an image of the hoardings around the new building). There’s also a research impact brochure on Collaborating with the Cultural and Creative Sector, a Guide to Coventry’s City of Culture 2021 Bid, a mobile phone representing communication and a staff/student card on a an LGBT lanyard.

For the future, a copy of the vision statement for the new building was buried, along with a message from a current Faculty of Arts student to future students.

The rest of the ceremony included speeches from James Breckon, Director of Estates, Professor Penny Roberts, Chair of the Faculty of Arts and Nick McQuaid, Contacts Manager for Bowmer + Kirkland who are the main contractors for the building project. Penny’s speech included the poem ‘Still A-Building’ by Veronica Forrest-Thompson written in 1967.

The Classics department led a libation ritual – a libation is a pouring of liquid as an offering to a deity or spirit. In this case it was milk and honey to the Nine Muses and a bottle of wine to the gods for good measure.

Professor Penny Roberts also released the formwork of the building, revealing the first column.

This building project has been running since 2015 and it’s thanks to the Faculty of Arts, colleagues in Estates, the design team led by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios Architects and contractors Bowmer + Kirkland that we’re now at construction stage. The new Faculty of Arts building will be the biggest building on campus when it’s completed in June 2021.

To find out more about the building visit these webpages.