Royal College of Art Show 2020
Royal College of Art | RCA2020
Meet the next generation of artists and designers
850 students around the world
300+ global events
Led by the RCA student community, with over 300 global events involving renowned artists and special collections of student work chosen by RCA alumni and guests including Es Devlin, Andreas Gursky, Edward Enninful, Magdalene Odundo, Anya Hindmarch and Gus Casely-Hayford.
The digital discovery platform will feature an international student cohort of around 850 emerging artists, designers, architects and creatives from their spaces around the world. Led by the RCA students from our four schools, Architecture, Arts & Humanities, Communication and Design, there will be over 300 events involving students, teaching staff and renowned artists, designers and curators as well as special collections of student work chosen by RCA alumni and guests.
Each with their own page, students’ work is showcased using a range of dynamic formats. Visitors can discover the platform by searching graduate names, browsing by Programme or exploring topical themes.
Events
RCA2020 will incorporate a two-week programme of over 300 events, featuring artist talks, performances, online tours, meet the maker sessions, panel discussions and workshops. Programme highlights include: ‘On the notion of written History in the public realm’ with artists Valda Jackson, Hew Locke and historian Richard Drayton chaired by Sarah Staton, Senior Tutor, Sculpture; ‘On the Contemporary’ with Tai Shani (Turner Prize Winner 2019 and Tutor in Contemporary Art Practice) and Harold Offeh, (artist and Tutor in Contemporary Art Practice), chaired by writer and filmmaker Juliet Jacques; 'How Can Bacteria Become A Digital Mediator?', hosted by MA Information Experience Design; and ‘What is necessary? The responses from the institutions’, a talk exploring the current urgency of the arts by curators Zoé Whitley & Victor Wang chaired by journalist and art historian, Julia Grosse.
Luminaries
Leading lights from the creative industries, including RCA alumni, have highlighted their favourite projects through ‘curated collections’ for visitors to explore. Guest curators include artist Es Devlin, photographer Andreas Gursky, Edward Enninful, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue UK, ceramicist Magdalene Odundo, fashion designer Anya Hindmarch, curator Gus Casely-Hayford, singer songwriter and performance artist Viktoria Modesta, choreographer Wayne McGregor, fashion designer Clare Waight Keller, designer and technologist John Maeda, fashion designers Alber Elbaz and Gareth Pugh.
Showcase
Among the ground-breaking work of over 850 graduates from around the world, viewers will be inspired by projects including:
Paintings by Sam Creasey, (MA Painting) who is interested in the urban environment and used his employment as a key-worker delivery driver to research buildings, streets, advertisements and people from the window of his van, which he reformed into paintings that have a jaded and surreal edge to them
In an attempt to depict the emotions and experiences of African Diasporic people in the UK, Roxanne Simone (MA Jewellery & Metal) questions ways of seeing blackness and being seen – exploring depths of treasures, joy, pain and sorrow that encompass Black women & non-binary people through metal work and collage.
Lowena Poole’s (MA Photography) bucolic images of former landfill sites taken in infrared to demonstrate the toxicity of the sites, winner of the 2020 Human Rights Photography Prize.
Ellen Fowles’ (MA Fashion), inclusive fashion collection inspired by her grandmother, created at home during the lock-down, to accommodate those with reduced mobility.
Shawn Adams (MA Architecture) reconsideration of the material value of electronic waste to explore how new and existing modes of living can be spatialised in Agbogbloshie, Accra, Ghana.
Gerald Mak (MA Ceramics & Glass) uses carvings on clay and watercolour to document recent circumstances and personal experience, namely a decade-long residence in London, the social movement in Hong Kong, residency trips to Jingdezhen China, and the coronavirus pandemic.
Marina Belinatani (MA Textiles) investigated uses for Japanese knotweed – from how to use it as a natural dye, to turning it into paper and bioplastic – which everyone can try via an open source platform.
A frugal device for safe infant feeding in refugee camps designed by Neloufar Taheri (MA Innovation Design Engineering), that empowers mothers to safely re-lactate and feed their infants without having to rely on the artificial formula in infectious conditions.
Launch
RCA2020, the Royal College of Art’s online graduate show, launches to the public with a 24-hour opening celebration that will span three international time zones, starting from 00:00 UTC on Thursday 16 July, connecting audiences across the globe.
Global Launch Schedule
RCA2020 will launch to the public with a 24-hour opening celebration, that will span three timezones, staring on Wednesday 15 July in the United States, and on Thursday 16 July in the United Kingdom and Asia, London 01:00 (Thur 16), New York 20:00 (Wed 15), Singapore 08:00 (Thursday, 16 July) and connect audiences across the globe.
This will be followed by a second launch on Wednesday 15 July in the United States, and on Thursday 16 July in the United Kingdom and Asia, London 09:00 (Thursday, 16 July), New York 04:00 (Thur 16), Singapore 16:00 (Thur 16).
And finally, a third launch on Wednesday 15 July in the United States, and on Thursday 16 July in the United Kingdom and Asia, London 14:00 (Thur 16), New York 9:00 (Thursday 16 July), Singapore 21:00 (Thur 16).
Dates: 16 – 31 July 2020
2020.rca.ac.uk
#RCA2020A full list of launch events will be published on http://2020.rca.ac.uk/
Image credit:
Visibility by Roxanne Simone
