IN SESSION: Talks

In this conversation, Samantha Moore (Head of Programme, Animation MA) and Bunny Schendler (Introduction to Animation: Contexts and Process Course Leader), spoke with recent Animation RCA graduate Nour Chamis (Road Rage) and Animator and Director Louis Hudson (Dice Productions) about how they have built thriving communities and how these have developed into great opportunities in the world of animation.

In this conversation, Adrian Shaughnessy (RCA Typography short course leader) and Professor Neville Brody (RCA Design Without Masterclass course leader) explored the historical significance of FUSE and its role in pioneering the careers of many of today’s leading graphic designers.

They discussed how the project’s legacy of radical experimentation continues to influence how we rethink and reimagine the languages we use today, moving typography beyond traditional meaning and into a post-semantic realm of expression.

This talk explored what it truly takes to design the right conditions for leadership — so people can organise themselves mindfully, partner effectively with AI, create differentiated value through creativity, and lead change that delivers and lasts.

Marty Zalewski, course leader of the upcoming short course Leading with a Design Mindset for a World Changed by AI in conversation with expert guest speakers: Annette Giardina, UK & Ireland Chief Innovation and Sustainability Officer at Avanade, a joint venture between Accenture and Microsoft and Neil Pearse, Partner in the People & Organisational Practice at McKinsey & Company in London.

Moderated by Professor Jeremy Myerson.

Design as a practice often works well in the playgrounds of others. The domains of design and foresight have been circling each other for a while now. Foresight has been moving out of long, dry reports and into practical demonstrations of worlds that may be born, whilst design now keeps a firm eye on faraway horizons as it grapples with the entangled implications of its actions. 

What does this tell us about the world we live in today, and how we might want (or urgently need) to change it? Join Charlie Warwick, Associate Director of Foresight at Arup, and pioneering industrial and interaction designer Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino as they unpack what makes Foresight and Design increasingly inhabit the same spaces, in conversation with the leaders of the RCA’s Futures Through Design course, Dr Rob Phillips and John V. Willshire.

Design until recently has been a global business. With the new geopolitics – not to mention questions of sustainability – will design businesses become more local, national and regional? If so, what are the upsides and downsides of this shift? This session brings together two major figures in the global design business, who have both worked globally – but what does the future hold?

Watch this conversation moderated by Philip Dodd, Chairman of Made in China (UK) Ltd. With Gina Diez Barroso, pioneering Mexican entrepreneur and philanthropist, and Jack Godfrey-Wood, founder and managing partner of Heirloom.

In conversation, Contemporary Art Summer School course leader Dr Despina Zacharopoulou, alongside multidisciplinary artist Emma Fineman and visual artist and lecturer Dr. Giorgos Kontis, explored the dynamic theme of Ana-Meta-Materialisms: Contemporary art practice reinventing, rethinking and referencing itself. In an era dictated by the virality and mutation of information spread throughout social media, Artificial Intelligence, and the circulation of fake news, this talk will delve into the urgent need to reimagine contemporary art practice via processes of redoing, repeating, mutating, self-referencing and rethinking, that might give birth to new artistic paradigms.  

A conversation between writer and organiser Dr Lola Olufemi and curator, editor and researcher, Dr Laura Vallés Vílchez, introduced by Professor Victoria Walsh.

Exploring publishing as an expanded curatorial practice, this conversation between Laura Vallés Vílchez (Senior Tutor, Curating Contemporary Art, RCA) and Dr Lola Olufemi (writer and organiser) considered Black feminist thinking and speculative imagination as radical political tools to envision new futures.

Hosted by RCA tutor and Typography short course leader, Adrian Shaughnessy, this session interrogated the work of three practitioners: Dr Charlotte Lengersdorf, Mark Webster and Jack Llewellyn, who are, in different and highly individualistic ways, shifting typography into a post-semantic realm of visual expression.

In conversation, Dr Nicolás Rebolledo (Senior Tutor, RCA), Eva Guerra(Hidden Strategy), and Peter Neufeld (EY) explored how to lead these transformations and how organisations are leveraging design to achieve their most strategic objectives.

Adam Cheyer, the mind behind Siri, in conversation with Special Projects' Adrian and Clara Westaway about bringing magic to technology interactions.

A panel discussion showcasing how design innovators are pioneering interventions and developing technologies to tackle the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the world. In conversation with Nadia Danhash, Dotplot and Know Your Lemons Foundation.

A conversation between Ben Evans (Director, London Design Festival), Philip Dodd (Chair, Creative agency Made in China) and Nadia Danhash (Director, InnovationRCA). Together, they discuss their views on the issues that Design Education faces in the 21st century.

This talk, introduced by Professor Victoria Walsh, brought together internationally renowned media artist Refik Anadol and curator/researcher Linda Rocco to discuss the impact of AI and emerging technologies on established ‘art world’ norms, reshaping the conditions of curating and art-making with Refik Anadol and Linda Rocco.

This talk brought together three independent publishers, all of them graphic designers to discuss the art, craft and practicalities of publishing books at a time when the world is increasingly turning digital and virtual. With Adrian Shaughnessy, FUEL and Plan B.

This talk brings together artist, Marco Brambilla with Daniel Birbaum, director of Acute Art and John Slyce., Senior Tutor, RCA to discuss how VR is changing contemporary art and the impact 3D imaging technologies have on the art world ecosystem.

This talk brought together Artist Kathrin Böhm, RCA Tutor Dr Gerrie van Noord and RCA Tutor Dr Rosie Ram to discuss the role of publishing, editing and writing as part of an artistic practice.

This event brought together Dr Rob Phillips, Senior Tutor in Design Products at the RCA and Anna Meroni, Professor of Design at the School of Design of Politecnico di Milano, to discuss ways designers can navigate and trigger societal change for the common good and public interest.

This event brought together Professor Ashley Hall, RCA and Professor Venere Ferraro, POLI.design, both experts in healthcare and wellbeing, to discuss the role of digitalisation in the healthcare sector using the perspective of the design discipline.

This event brought together three renowned figures from the visual arts to investigate the role of artificial intelligence in the production of creative visual work.

With Adrian Shaughnessy, Jessica Helfand and Michael Horsham.

This event brought together Adam Kingl in conversation with the RCA’s Director of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Rama Gheerawo, to discuss new tools and perspectives about creativity and leadership. The conversation was hosted by Ve Dewey who comes from both the creative and business side of work.

This event brought together Sir Geoff Mulgan in conversation with RCA’s Head of Service Design Clive Grinyer, to discuss sustainability, social innovation and policy and the role of creativity and design in building imaginative futures.

This talk brings together Dr Jiayu Wu in conversation with Martin Uhlarik and Rikesh Shah to discuss pioneering innovations incorporating human centred design in automotive, new mobility and public transport systems at scale.

The talk brings together Christian Bason, Danish Design Centre CEO in conversation with two academics who have pioneered social change through design research - Mariana Amatullo, Parsons School of Design and Jeremy Myerson, RCA to discuss about design and the future of social innovation.

This discussion brings together Jeremy Millar and Ralph Rugoff, Director of the Hayward Gallery, about writing, curating and contemporary art, and the ways in which these practices address different publics.

The event was chaired by Dr Rosie Ram.

This talk brings together Dr Ben Cranfield and Patrick Flores as they consider the potential for contemporary art and curating to offer new ways of engaging with archives.

The event was chaired by Dr Rosie Ram.

This talk brings together Lynda Gratton and Jeremy Myerson, they drew on their latest research about the future of work and shared ground-breaking ideas on how to ‘redesign work’ in the hybrid era.

This talk brings together editor and curator Dr Gerrie van Noord, Gary Clough and Richard Nash where they discuss the importance of art direction, critical writing and content curation in the construction of a portfolio.

This talk brings together Dr Rosie Ram (Visiting Lecturer in Curating Contemporary Art and Course Leader, Curating Contemporary Art and Design: Theory and Practice at the RCA) and Dr Zoé Whitley (Director of Chisenhale Gallery and graduate of MA V&A/RCA History of Design, 2003). The discussion will explore the ecologies of curating that sustain the production and presentation of contemporary art and design across local, national and international contexts.

This talk brings together Dr Despina Zacharopoulou, Marily Konstantinopoulou and Dimitra Nikolou to discuss strategies of empowering contemporary artistic practice in uncertain times.

This talk brings together Dr Ninela Ivanova and Oluchi Ikechi-D'Amico to explore three themes that are central to a world-wide building back better: How can we create products, services and environments that are people-centred, stakeholder-inclusive and change life for the better? What is the role for design in enabling companies to identify and seize opportunities for innovation in an overstretched global economy? How do we ensure that solutions to the challenges of today have long-term sustainability and impact?

This talk brings together Nick de Leon, Emma Frost, Inara Khan and Judah Armani to share with you what it takes to create and deliver an innovation strategy, build the capacity inside your organisation as well as how to unleash the creativity and innovations of your customers, business partners and supply chain alike.

This talk brings together Gary Clough, Richard Nash and renowned graphic designer and publisher Tony Brook to discuss their individual practices and parallels between the progression portfolio and art & design publishing.

This discussion considers the ecological imperative driving change within design curriculum and pedagogy.

With Harriet Harriss and Delfina Fantini van Ditmar.

This talk explores enabling conditions for system change, ecological thinking and social infrastructure, the role of designers and how far can we go to fix a cultural disconnection between the man-made world and the biosphere? 

With John Thakara and Jeremy Myerson.

This conversation explores the implications of the global experiment in home-based work during Covid-19 and ideas relating to 'going to work', 'being at work' and 'leaving work' from the contrasting perspectives of Silicon Valley and the home.

With Frances Holliss and Claudia Dutson.

This talk focuses on the challenges that founders face balancing their impact goals with the harsh realities of building a successful business, from offender rehabilitation, access to sanitation through to climate change.

With Judah Armani and Nadia Danhash.

This discussion is about the emerging area of Creative Leadership, how the three values of Empathy, Clarity and Creativity can affect personal and professional practices.

With Christopher Patnoe and Rama Gheerawo.

This session explores the opportunities people can collaboratively develop for constructing economies, innovation and generally skills that account for the planet and its natural resources as social assets.

With Henk Ovink and Laura Ferrarello.

This conversation unpicks ‘Communities of Place’, a sociality cultivating a network of relationships that, after the crisis, could evolve into hybrid communities of place.

With Ezio Manzini and Rob Phillips.

This talk explores the role designers should play in building a better post-Covid world, how a design museum might bring the creative community together and whether the extravagant claims of liberal institutions to cultural leadership can be justified.

With Tim Marlow and Jeremy Myerson.

This conversation is about the importance of collaborative and inclusive Open Innovation (OI), its impact in London, the role of place in designing OI strategies and the importance of diversity and inclusion in OI.

With Laura Citron, Theo Blackwell and Nick de Leon.

This session shares strategies for change, stories of challenge, celebrates success and voice aspiration. How can design open its doors and windows to a variety of experiences and cultures… and ensure that they stay open.

With Dori Tunstall, Carole Bilson, Mark Rutledge and Rama Gheerawo.