In this episode of the RCA Podcast, RCA President Christoph Lindner speaks with artist and educator Sarah Staton and architect Liza Fior about the power of public art and architecture in shaping belonging, community, and inclusion.
They explore its power to invite connection, the challenges of gentrification, and the ways art can redefine the spaces we share.
Guests:
Sarah Staton: Sculptor, educator, and Senior Tutor of the RCA’s MA Sculpture programme, whose permanent commissions explore how public works can foster connection across generations.
Liza Fior: Founding partner of Muf architecture/art and Professor of Architecture and Spatial Practice at Central Saint Martins, known for award-winning projects that put community at the centre of urban design.
Get more information:
In 2024, representatives from the Royal College of Art (RCA) joined the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) on an expedition from Greenland to Iceland onboard Royal Research Ship James Cook, but what exactly was an art school doing in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean?
In this collaborative episode, Into the Blue Podcast and the Royal College of Art Podcast join together to explore the critical role of collaboration in tackling the challenges facing our oceans.
Professor Ashley Hall, Professor of Design and Innovation in the School of Design and Lead Researcher on NEMO (New Economic Model for the Ocean) at the RCA, is joined by Marine Biogeochemist and Biological Oceanographer Dr Filipa Carvalho.
The pair discuss the unique partnership, how their projects are helping us to better understand climate tipping points, and the role of co-design processes that connect life on land with ocean systems to incorporate local knowledge and perspectives.
Discover more:
Listen to more podcasts:
What does a genuinely ‘decentered’ space look like in creative education and the fashion industry?
Ahead of the upcoming FACE (Fashion Academics Creating Equity) Summit at the Royal College of Art on November 7-8, 2024, we explore the deep, systemic work necessary to create fairer, more inclusive spaces within the arts and education.
FACE is a pioneering collective founded to confront inequities in creative education, championing the intersection of fashion, art, and academia as a force for meaningful change.
This episode’s host is Joyce Addai Davis—an RCA Fashion MA graduate, footwear designer, and the first Black female academic in RCA’s Fashion Department. Joyce shares insights from her journey in academia, where her work bridges sustainable fashion practices with critical questions about waste and equity.
Joining her is Andrew Ibi, a co-founder of FACE, creative director and fashion curator, who recently curated “The Missing Thread” exhibition at Somerset House. With his extensive experience as a course leader at Liverpool John Moores University and as an external examiner at RCA, Andrew brings invaluable insight into what it takes to create decentered, inclusive, and anti-racist spaces.
In this episode, Joyce and Andrew discuss:
Whether you’re in academia, fashion, or an ally for change, listen to discover the vision and actions needed to reshape the future of creative education and the fashion industry.
Follow along on social media: #FACExRCA2024
In the final episode of our Dean's Downloads series for RCA2024, we catch up with Kerry Curtis, Dean of the School of Communication.
Kerry chats with Etan about The Festival of Communication, which takes place across a variety of London locations between 17 July and 4 August.
They discuss the innovative programmes at the School, which explore how communication shapes our lives and develop new ways to interact with the world.
Kerry tells us of the various mediums used by students, from animation, data visualisation, and game design to graphic design, illustration, XR, AI, generative systems, and immersive experiences like soundscapes and performances.
The festival includes a range of events across 3 weeks, taking place at the RCA White City campus, and Television Centre and MediaWorks, also both in White City, as well as at The Outernet on Tottenham Court Road, and the RCA Battersea campus.
The programmes featured are:
All parts of The Festival of Communication for RCA2024 are free to attend, and no registration is required.
Find the full schedule for the exhibitions, events and activities for the School of Communication for RCA2024.
Discover more about the School of Communication at the RCA.
Find out how to apply to the RCA.
In the third episode of our Dean's Downloads series for RCA2024, we catch up with Professor Paul Anderson, Dean of the School of Design. We discuss the School's upcoming exhibition taking place from Friday 12 - Sunday 14 July at RCA Battersea Campus.
The School's exhibition will take place across two weeks in the Studio Building on the RCA's Battersea Campus on Howie Street.
Paul chats to Etan about the broad variety of practices of the students, how they interact with the public and industry, and how he hopes visitors will actively engage with the work on show in RCA2024.
Week 1: 12 - 14 July
MA Service Design
MA Textiles
MA Intelligent Mobility
MDes Design Futures
Week 2: 19 - 21 July
MA Design Products
MA Fashion
MA/MSCs Global Innovation Design
MA/MSCs Innovation Design Engineering
Open times:
12pm – 7.30pm on Fridays
12pm to 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays
Last entry will be 30 mins before closing time, so get in early.
Find the full schedule for the exhibitions, events and activities for the School of Design for RCA2024.
Learn more about the School on the RCA website.
Listen to other episodes in this series:
In the second episode of our Dean's Downloads series for RCA2024, we catch up with Dr Adrian Lahoud, Dean of the School of Architecture.
The School's exhibition will take place at The Truman Brewery on London's Brick Lane from Friday 12 - Sunday 14 July 2024.
Adrian chats to Etan about the School, how its programmes operate, and the themes of the work that will be on show. Programmes include:
The exhibition is free to attend and you don’t need to register.
Find the full schedule for the exhibitions, events and activities for the School of Architecture for RCA2024.
Learn more about the School on the RCA website.
Listen to other episodes in this series:
In this episode, we chat to Kimberly Burrows. Kimberly graduated from the Royal College of Art with a MA in Painting in 2023, and continued her RCA journey as the President of the RCA Student Union. She is an interdisciplinary artist, disability advocate and model living and working in London.
Kimberley is a recipient of the Tony Snowdon Scholarship, awarded by The Snowdon Trust to exceptional disabled scholars, and was named on The Shaw Trust’s Disability Power 100 List of the UK’s top 100 influential disabled people and organisations.
Listen as Kimberley chats to fellow RCA graduate, Benji Jerffrey, about:
The definition of ‘accessibility’
Accessibility in the arts and the digital world
Her artistic practice, and her journey as a disabled artist through creative education
Learn more about Kimberley
Mentioned in the episode
Funding and studying at the RCA
Support for students with disabilities at the RCA
Additional reading/resources
Arts and creative therapies, from Mind, a mental health charity.
Check out disability arts organisations -
Notes on blindness by John M Hall -
Check out artist Emilie Louise Gossiaux -
In the first episode of our Dean's Downloads series for RCA2024, we catch up with Ken Neil, Dean of the School of Arts & Humanities, to chat about the School's upcoming exhibition taking place from Thursday 20 - Sunday 23 June.
In the midst of the exhibition install at the RCA's Battersea campus, Ken discusses the diverse offering of work that will be on display from the 11 programmes exhibiting.Programmes includes:
The School’s exhibition is taking place from Thursday 20 - Sunday 23 June. It’s a free event and you don’t need to register.
On 16 July, you can also experience work from the V&A/RCA History of Design MA programme, in a symposium and publication launch called ‘i <3 things’. Find out more about the V&A RCA Symposium.
Find the full schedule for the exhibitions, events and activities for the School of Arts & Humanities at RCA2024.
How can we integrate sustainability into arts and design education to empower students to make an impact?
In the latest episode of the RCA Podcast, Dr Nick de Leon explores this question with representatives from the Sustainable Markets Initiative, the Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation (UAE), the National Institute of Design Ahmedabad (India) and the Rhode Island School of Design (USA).
Following on from the global success of the 2022 edition, the RCA is partnering for a second time with the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s Terra Carta Design Lab - a competition to discover student led, high impact solutions to the climate crisis.
This year’s Design Lab has expanded its reach to also partner with Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation (UAE), National Institute of Design Ahmedabad (India) and Rhode Island School of Design (USA).
In this podcast episode, leaders from each of these institutions come together to consider:
How we can integrate sustainability into higher education
The value of multidisciplinary collaboration, and collaborating between academia and industry
Taking an entrepreneurial approach to learning and design
Making an impact through international partnerships
The Terra Carta Design Lab and Sustainable Markets Initiative
Host & guests:
Nick de Leon is the RCA’s Academic Lead for the Terra Carta Design Lab. He is also Executive Education and Knowledge Exchange Lead in the RCA’s School of Design, where he leads the development of the School's research and knowledge exchange relations.
Jennifer Jordan-Saifi, M.V.O., MBA is Chief Executive Officer of the Sustainable Markets
Initiative, a global organisation that mobilises the private sector to put sustainability at the
heart of global value creation. His Majesty King Charles III, a champion of sustainability for over 50 years, launched the Sustainable Markets Initiative (when he was Prince of Wales) in 2020.
Touba Ghadessi is President Provost of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), setting a visionary path for student learning and academic affairs. Of Iranian ancestry and raised in Geneva, Switzerland, Touba embodies a commitment to diplomacy and cultural dialogue.
Hani Asfour is Vice President of Innovation and Institutional Partnerships at Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation (DIDI). He is a founding member of DIDI, playing a pivotal role in shaping its curriculum, developed in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and The New School's Parsons School of Design.
Praveen Nahar is the Director of the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad, India. His leadership extends across various departments and committees within NID, with a focus on areas such as Sustainable Design and Systems Thinking.
Learn more about the Terra Carta Design Lab on the RCA website
Find out more about studying at the RCA.
Discover the RCA’s Scholarship and funding opportunities.
In this episode, Benji Jeffrey chats to Christoph Jones and Melanie King from the Working Class Collective (WCC).
The WCC is a student-run society, founded by Jennifer McMillan and Cristoph Jones in 2020 with an aim to uplift and provide solidarity for working-class students at the RCA.
The WCC acknowledges and celebrates the varied lives and experiences of working-class people through talks, events, exhibitions and social gatherings, and has produced two triumphant summer shows.
At the time of recording, Melanie King is the Interim Chair.
Listen as Benji, Christoph and Melanie discuss:
The formation and growth of the society
What it means to be ‘working class’, intersectionality and cultural identity
How being working class influences artistic practice
About the guests
Christoph Jones
Christoph Jones is an award-winning conceptual artist based in London. He graduated from the RCA with an MA Contemporary Art Practice in 2023. During his time as a student, he co-founded the RCA Working Class Collective with Jennifer McMillan. His practice encompasses a diverse range of mediums, including 3D digital design, video essays, painting, sculpture, performance, installation, and speculative fiction writing. With a focus on recontextualization, aesthetic abstraction and geographic relocation, his current work explores the transformative power of these processes on ostensibly axiomatic ideological, political and social concepts.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_christophjones/
Website: https://www.christophjones.com/
Melanie King
Melanie King is a working class artist and curator, originally from Manchester, and is now based in Kent, UK. She is a practice-based PhD Candidate in the School of Arts & Humanities at the Royal College of Art. Melanie is co-Director of super/collider, Lumen Studios and founder of the London Alternative Photography Collective. She is also a Lecturer In Photography at Canterbury Christ Church University. She is represented by the Land Art Agency.
Instagram: https://www.melaniek.co.uk/research
Website: https://www.instagram.com/melaniekatking/
Learn more about the Working Class Collective
Instagram: @RCAWCC
X (Twitter): @RCAWCC
Website: https://www.rcasu.org.uk/organisation/6281/
Mentioned in the episode
Jacob Talkowski @jacobtalkowski
Zofia Skoroszewska @zofiaskoro
Working Class Artist Network Collective Instagram
Article: ‘Impostor syndrome’ is a pseudo-medical name for a class problem, Nathalie Olah
Book: Chavs by Owen Jones
Book: Bullshit Jobs: A Theory by David Graeber
Essay: What’s the point if we can’t have fun? David Graeber
Resource: Working Class Creative Database
Learn more about the Royal College of Art
Visit: www.rca.ac.uk
Find out about scholarships and funding available:
Visit: https://bit.ly/3mEaQjv
In a special episode for International Women’s Day, this week's episode focuses on InnovationRCA - the Royal College of Art's centre for enterprise, entrepreneurship, incubation and business support.
In the last five years, companies supported through InnovationRCA’s incubator programme have been valued at more than £305 million, with 52% of the 116 founders being female, and 34% of founders from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Part 1: Introducing InnovationRCA with Dr Nadia Danhash
In the first part of this two part episode, we hear from Director Dr Nadia Danhash, who has been leading the way in championing diversity amongst a cohort of start-up businesses.
Dr Danhash is interviewed by Dr Melanie Flory - Associate Director of Research at the RCA’s Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. Dr Flory is a psychologist and neuroscientist whose research enquiry is at the intersection of inclusive design, systems thinking, and cognitive neuroscience.
They discuss:
We hear from extraordinary RCA graduates who have journeyed through InnovationRCA's incubator themselves:
In a conversation led by Annetta Snider, InnovationRCA’s Entrepreneur in Residence, they discuss:
Learn more about InnovationRCA
Additional resources
The episode was recorded on 27 Feb 2024.
#InnovationRCA #Entrepreneur #RoyalCollegeofArt #IWD2024
In the latest episode of the Royal College of Art Podcast, Emily Moore and Ekua McMorris discuss initiatives to support the RCA’s Black community.
Host Benji Jeffrey was joined by Emily Moore (Painting MA, 2020) – co-chair of RCA BLK, the association of Black Students, Alumni & Friends – and Ekua McMorris (Photography MA, 2009), former RCA Student Union President and current tutor on the Graduate Diploma Art and Design at the College.
From an online support network to scholarships and socials, Emily explains the origins of RCA BLK and how it has evolved to support the needs of Black RCA students, past, present and future.
Ekua shares her experiences of curating the 2011 RCA Black exhibition, which showcased the work of RCA artists and designers from throughout the College’s history.
Their conversation considers the importance of solidarity, financial support, and the visibility of those who have gone before.
Featured in the podcast is a poem by Thalia Dougourou (Visual Communication MA, 2023), which was commissioned by RCA BLK, as part of Black Star, a project creating a time capsule of artworks from the RCA BLK community to be sent into outer space. Thalia’s practice dismantles Eurocentric perspectives on African history through word and image. Discover her RCA2023 graduate work.
The music in this episode is from Andrew Pierre Hart (Painting MA, 2019). It’s taken from a mix he created to accompany his exhibition ‘The Listening Sweet - 3 - Lagos’ at Tiwani Contemporary in Lagos Nigeria. The work he exhibited explored the dialogue between painting, sculpture and music – a fundamental part of his practice. You can discover more about Andrew’s work on his website.
More information:
RCA BLK
You can find out more about RCA BLK on their website.
You can also get in touch with RCA BLK through their Instagram or contacting them via email. rca-blk@rca.ac.uk
Further details of The Frank Bowling Scholarships, open to Black students, can be found on our website.
The Yinka Shonibare residency in Lagos, Nigeria, that was mentioned is an opportunity for the extended RCA BLK community: email rca-blk@rca.ac.uk for the open call information pack
RCA
You can find out more about the RCA on our website.
If you are interested in studying here, you might want to check out an Open Day.
Details of the Graduate Diploma in Art & Design, can be found here.
You can also find out more about the wider Student Support offered by the College.
RCA Black exhibition
The RCA Black exhibition featured 23 artists from the RCA’s history. You can read more about it in a Guardian interview with Ekua.
The RCA alumni Ekua mentioned in the podcast were:
Barrington Watson
Frank Bowling
Joy Gregory
Charlie Allen
Faisal Abdu'Allah
Other artists mentioned in this episode
Emily talks about artists featured in Frieze art fair and 154, including:
She also mentions Jarelle Francis (Curating Contemporary Art MA, 2023) who established Meadow Gallery, with an exhibition of work by Roisin Jones (Contemporary Art Practice MA, 2023).
Ekua discusses Black female artists Lubaina Himid, Marlene Smith and Claudette Johnson
In this episode of the Royal College of Art Podcast, host Benji Jeffrey delves into the fascinating world of public toilets with guests Gail Ramster and Professor Jo-Anne Bichard. As part of the RCA's Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, they lead the Public Toilet Research Unit, exploring the crucial intersection of design, inclusivity, and public spaces.
From the challenges of finding a decent public toilet to the broader implications on business and public life, Gail and Jo-Anne share insights into their research and experiences.
The conversation spans topics like:
- the neglected design of public toilets
- the cultural significance of these spaces
- policy challenges hindering the improvement of public loos
Gail and Jo-Anne discuss the serious and humorous sides of their work, emphasising the need to break the taboo around loos and integrate them into broader discussions on urban design and accessibility.
Join us for a thought-provoking discussion on why toilets matter, how they impact our daily lives, and the quest for 'Loo-topia'—perfect public toilets for everyone.
Learn more on the RCA's website
Find out more about the research and activity mentioned in the episode:
Welcome to the Royal College of Art podcast, exploring the world of art, design, and research at the World's Number 1 College for postgraduate artists and designers worldwide.
In this episode, Benji speaks to Dr Dave Webster, Assistant Dean (School of Design), where they delve into the essential topic of inclusive research methodologies, emphasising the importance of inclusivity at every stage of the research process.
Benji and Dave reflect on the evolution of design over the past 15 years, focusing on its relative merits and its role in shaping our future. Discover the complexities of defining research data and the critical role of research design in students' academic journeys.
Learn more on https://www.rca.ac.uk/news-and-events/rca-podcasts/
In this episode, Benji takes you on an enlightening journey through the Venice Biennale, where the theme of "The Laboratory of the Future" spotlights Africa as a pivotal force in decolonization and decarbonization. We explore how architecture has historically shaped colonialism, racial capitalism, and carbon economies.
Join us in questioning the importance of thinking locally in architecture and gain valuable insights from Thandi Loewenson, Senior Tutor (School of Architecture), on how the Royal College of Art is engaging with these thought-provoking topics.
Learn more on https://www.rca.ac.uk/news-and-events/rca-podcasts/
In this episode, Benji dissects the multifaceted concept of communication with Dr Barbara Brownie, Assistant Dean (School of Communication) at the RCA. We journey through the challenges of pushing disciplinary boundaries and unravel the relationship between the body and designed objects in sci-fi movies.
Learn more on https://www.rca.ac.uk/news-and-events/rca-podcasts/
In this episode, our host Benji sits down with Chris Mitchell, Deputy Director of Academic Development at the Royal College of Art (RCA), to explore what sets creative education apart from conventional learning methods. We delve into the dynamic shifts in education and how the RCA adapts to an ever-changing world. Discover the nuanced journey of individual students and the transformative role of teachers in fostering creativity.
Learn more from https://www.rca.ac.uk/news-and-events/rca-podcasts/
Benji speaks to Martin Newth, Assistant Dean (School of A&H), on what the Arts and Humanities is, how the art world has changed, the value of slow learning, and young people in the arts. Find out more about how the Royal College of Art's new MFA Arts & Humanities respond to the vast array of practices and approaches, and creating space for collaborative and collective work.
Read the show notes and transcript here: https://www.rca.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/rcast-art-and-humanity/