Events are an integral part of the master programs: from workshops with guests professors to lectures series with relevant practitioners.
Wed, Mar 11, 2026
Masterclass
María Fabuel, Pedro Lipovetzky & Elisenda Muns, Gracias Grecia
Beyond walls: The renaissance of exhibition environments
Only for MVD students
Beyond walls: The renaissance of exhibition environments
What do a Balenciaga runway show, an MWC stand, and the latest Miró exhibition have in common? More than it might seem. Each of them tells a story through the design of an experience. Through historical and contemporary case studies and references, we will explore exhibition design as an expanding field that moves beyond the museum space. Through scenography, lighting, sound, and technology, stories are transformed into immersive experiences that are navigated, shared, and felt.
© Eva Carasol
At Gracias Grecia, we understand the exhibition environment as a space for encounter: emotional — through art, design, scenography, lighting, and participation — and intellectual, connected to content, knowledge, and debate. We are interested in that intersection between experience and thought, between collective expression and critical positioning. This is where our skills and our way of working converge.
Throughout our trajectory, we have developed projects in diverse formats: from the design of a 2,500 m² museum in Barcelona’s Port Vell to exhibitions at institutions such as CaixaForum and the Triennale di Milano, as well as experimental installations and hybrid formats that combine digital arts, theatre, and exhibition experience.
In a context of information overload, polarization, and constant technological transformation, we need environments where knowledge is not only transmitted, but collectively experienced and questioned. Exhibition design responds to this need by bringing together thought, form, critique, and emotion.
Wed, Mar 11, 2026
Bookworm
Three Contemporary Magazines, 1
Only for MED students
In the current landscape of editorial design, Emergence, Bill, and Inque represent three unique approaches to the magazine as a cultural object. Emergence Magazine, created by Studio Airport, combines narrative and photography in a slow, sensory experience. Bill, edited and designed by Julia Peeters, is a distinctive photography yearbook that proposes a “visual reading” of the articles without the distraction of text. Meanwhile, Inque, spearheaded by Matt Willey, is a literary magazine with impeccable design that invites leisurely reading. Together, these publications demonstrate how contemporary editorial design transcends its informative function to become a physical experience, an ideological stance, and a formal exploration.
In the Bookworm sessions we will explore iconic magazines and books that capture the spirit of the era in which they were created. The material comes from Elisava’s library collections, especially from its Reserve Fund, which contains publications that, due to their design, constitute a journey through the best of the past and present of modern graphics applied to the field of editorial design.
The Bookworm sessions are guided by Andreu Jansà, librarian and curator of the Enric Bricall Reserve Fund.
We will place the publications in their context and try to define what makes them relevant in the history of editorial design in the 20th and 21st centuries. The direct contact with the books and magazines that we will see in each session will allow us to experience the printed document from a material point of view: binding, paper, lay out, illustrations, typography. We will also be able to assess the adequacy between form and content.
Wed, Mar 18, 2026
Masters’ Talks
7.30 pm — Event at DHub
Open to the public
Kathy Ryan
Backstories
Backstories
Kathy Ryan will choose a handful of photographs that stand out in her mind from the pages of The New York Times Magazine during the 39 years she worked there. She will share the backstory for each picture to give insight into how that image came into being. The photographs will cover a wide range of subject matter including international news, lifestyle stories, and culture coverage.
© Inez and Vinoodh
Ryan will also show and talk about some of the photographs from her Office Romance series that she made during the last decade she worked at The NYTMAG. They are a love poem to her colleagues and a celebration of the radiant light in the Renzo Piano-designed New York Times building.
The longtime director of photography at The New York Times Magazine, Kathy Ryan has been a pioneer of combining fine art photography with photojournalism. She has worked with the world’s best photographers across all genres of photography. She regularly brought new talent into The Magazine’s pages. She left The Times after 39 years to focus on her own artwork, curating exhibitions, teaching a course at Yale, and speaking engagements.
In 2011, Ryan edited The New York Times Magazine Photographs, a landmark book published by Aperture. An accompanying exhibition, curated by Ryan and Lesley Martin opened at the Rencontres d’Arles in 2012, traveled to FOAM Museum in Amsterdam, Palau Robert in Barcelona, Universidad Católica in Santiago and ended its run at the Aperture Gallery in New York City.
Ryan has contributed essays and Q&A’s to books by photographers Lee Friedlander, Christopher Payne, Seydou Keïta, Paolo Pellegrin, Lynsey Addario, Jack Davison and Brian Finke. She was the picture editor of Feeling the Spirit by Chester Higgins.
The Magazine‘s photography and videos have been recognized with numerous awards. Ryan was awarded the Dr. Erich Salomon Prize from the German Photographic Society in September 2025. Ryan was a recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the Griffin Museum of Photography in 2007; the Royal Photographic Society’s annual award for Outstanding Service to Photography in 2012; the Vision Award at the Center for Photography at Woodstock in 2014; and the Outstanding Contribution to Photography recognition from Creative Review in 2016. Ryan has been recognized as Photo Editor of the Year by the Lucie Awards and Visa Pour l’Image. Ryan won two Emmy’s for videos she produced for The New York Times Magazine’s Great Performers series. Kathy was the International Center of Photography’s Spotlight honoree in 2024.
Office Romance, a book of Ryan’s photographs featuring her colleagues and the beauty and poetry to be found in the radiant light in the New York Times building was published by Aperture in 2014. This work has been exhibited in Europe and the U.S. All of Ryan’s photography is done with the iPhone.
Wed, Mar 18, 2026
Bookworm
Three Contemporary Magazines, 2
Only for MED students
From the perspective of contemporary editorial design, MacGuffin, Science of the Secondary, and Apartamento propose three ways of understanding the magazine as a narrative device and cultural artifact. MacGuffin constructs each issue around an everyday object, developing a constantly evolving visual identity. Similarly, Science of the Secondary explores the material universe of the things that surround us and often go unnoticed. For its part, Apartamento opts for a deliberately informal, approachable, and seemingly spontaneous aesthetic, breaking with the traditional neatness of interior design magazines. These three publications demonstrate how editorial design is capable of articulating an aesthetic and conceptual discourse around material culture.
In the Bookworm sessions we will explore iconic magazines and books that capture the spirit of the era in which they were created. The material comes from Elisava’s library collections, especially from its Reserve Fund, which contains publications that, due to their design, constitute a journey through the best of the past and present of modern graphics applied to the field of editorial design.
The Bookworm sessions are guided by Andreu Jansà, librarian and curator of the Enric Bricall Reserve Fund.
We will place the publications in their context and try to define what makes them relevant in the history of editorial design in the 20th and 21st centuries. The direct contact with the books and magazines that we will see in each session will allow us to experience the printed document from a material point of view: binding, paper, lay out, illustrations, typography. We will also be able to assess the adequacy between form and content.
Wed, Mar 25, 2026
Graphic — Elisava lectures
7.30 pm — Sala Aleix Carrió
Open to the public
Ann Richter, Studio Pandan
BTS: Design Twists
BTS: Design Twists
From the visual identity of the art walk Balade to Mining Photography, glitches, edited magazine covers, and typographic climate crises, we navigate Studio Pandan’s project map. We look beyond final outcomes to the many paths that lead there. Design, for us, is a collaborative practice—within the studio and in close exchange with clients from art, literature, and architecture. Sometimes the first idea holds, but more often the work unfolds through a winding, transformative journey. Together, we’ll follow the twists and turns of this process.
Ann Richter studied visual communication at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart and graphic design at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig. Before co-founding Studio Pandan, she worked at international design agencies including Graphic Thought Facility in London and Project Projects in New York City. As a co-founder of the collective A.R. practice, she develops projects at the intersection of design and curatorial work. Alongside running the studio, she regularly lectures and leads workshops at art and design institutions.
© Robert Hamacher
Studio Pandan, founded by Pia Christmann and Ann Richter, is a Berlin-based design studio with a strong eye for detail and an imaginative outlook. We create visual identities across print and digital media, as well as publications and websites, shaped by careful research, playful sensitivity, and conceptual clarity. Since our beginnings in 2015, typography has been our core tool. Actively engaged in contemporary culture, we are especially interested in socially relevant and sustainable projects, seeing design as both a responsibility and a catalyst for change.
Wed, Apr 8, 2026
Graphic — Elisava lectures
7.30 pm — Sala Aleix Carrió
Open to the public
Bart de Baets
Paperclips
Paperclips
In his lecture, graphic designer Bart de Baets will show a large variety of works and elaborate more on the ways they find their form and are realized eventually. Although Bart’s practice is mostly spent working at the studio in Amsterdam, it is alternated by a parttime teaching position at the Royal Academy in The Hague, where he works with the first year students and the ones graduating. The way he teaches and cooks up his assignments is inspired by transforming everyday observations (at times obsessions) into educational exercises. The students are triggered to think of formal executions that evoke solutions close to Bart’s own practice visualizing abilities and editorial voice.
Although appearing less frequently today, Bart’s body of work’s been known to feature self initiated publications, such as Success and Uncertainty (together with Sandra Kassenaar), Dark and Stormy (together with Rustan Söderling), and Tabrat, a zine from 2022 in which de Baets confesses to be a tab hoarder (phone only, the browser tabs on his laptop are opened briefly and closed again efficiently) and shares them here with us in the charming A4-sized publication. His editorial assets have not been forlorn, and are frequently demonstrated more so in his collaborative works for artbook shop Page Not Found and exhibition space Nest (both are located in the city of The Hague). The talk at Elisava will prominently feature all of these works—and more—and provide insights into the developments of these designs by showing sketches, references and many inspirations.
Graphic designer Bart de Baets (1979, Knokke, BE) is based in Amsterdam. His design for the Sandberg Institute’s temporary master programme The Radical Cut Up was nominated for a Dutch Design Award. As a result, PostNL commissioned De Baets to design a series of stamps titled ‘Talk to the Hand’. With Sandra Kassenaar he designed the exhibition, campaign and catalogue for ‘Circulate’, an exhibition on photographic art acquisitions at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. The two also design the graphic identity of Kunstmuseum Bochum. He designed ‘On the Necessity of Gardening: An ABC of Art, Botany and Cultivation’ (2021), which was published parallel to ‘The Botanical Revolution’, an exhibition at the Centraal Museum, Utrecht. That year, the Stiftung Buchkunst awarded the book with the highest prize in the category Best Book Design from all over the World. A second title in that series, Mothering Myths, an ABC of Art, Birth and Care was released in May of 2025, for which he collaborated once again with editors Laurie Cluitmans and Heske ten Cate. He holds a part-time teaching position at the Graphic Design department of the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, and he has taught at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam for fifteen years.
Being educated by notorious wild collaborator Will Holder, the radical typographic thinkers of Experimental Jetset and conceptual makers like Linda van Deursen, triggered Bart de Baets to think like an editor early in his graphic design studies, making zines with and for his peers, or whipping up catchy writings to go with his posters and projects. His design skills were fed ferociously when working with Maureen Mooren and Daniel van der Velden (now Metahaven) whose interest in art inspired him. For them, that always seemed to come first, then design. For the pages of Archis (an architecture magazine–now Volume), the layouts of existing periodical publications were used to give form to the magazine’s content, and Bart was taught to study their characteristics and so became an excellent copycat.
Over the years de Baets’ body of work has developed immensely mostly so by certain significant collaborations. A few early memorable ones have been those with Melanie Bonajo and Frank Koolen, two (then) Amsterdam-based artists not much older than himself and whose practice inspired an idea on which to work together, and which, in a way, kicked off de Baets’ career. The likes of Rustan Söderling and Sandra Kassenaar are of similar influence and remain crucial design partners; both are good friends to this day. Their influence on some self initiated works, such as Dark and Stormy and Success and Uncertainty is essential for de Baets’ current design approach and visual language. Kassenaar and de Baets nowadays share a studio and work together as designers regularly.
His designs are rooted heavily in a kind of conceptual thinking, and his abilities to think along editorially with commissioners has given Bart’s body of work an outspoken character. His work is distinctively playful and seemingly intuitive, giving the impression that the designs could be made quickly or hand-made. Yet, each one of the designs is a carefully put-together composition made according to a bunch of guidelines and often uses typography or visuals referencing things “found” on the street. For years Bart’s been a teacher in graphic design often working with the first year students, introducing them to the job. Surrounded by other designers, skilled coders, letter drawers and colour wizards, his teaching encourages to explore what it’s like to make art and design in today’s environments by demonstrating personal fascinations.
Wed, May 27, 2026
Masters’ Talks
7.30 pm — Event at DHub
Open to the public
Jonas Janke, b+
Love me one time, two times … x times !
Love me one time, two times … x times !
The lecture is not a conventional showcase of selected projects from our daily practice, but rather aims to provide a broader insight into the network of actors in which b+ (bplus.xyz) operates, how we understand the contemporary way of an architectural practice and scope of work of an architect, and how we approach our projects—in short: who b+ is and how we work, what our values are, and what our understanding of our duties and responsibilities as architects is.
Jonas Janke (DE, 1991) is an architect and partner at bplus.xyz (Berlin). He has a diverse background in architecture, was trained as an architectural draughtsman before pursuing his studies in Hamburg, Stockholm, and Berlin. He gained valuable experience as a tutor and assistant in various departments including design & typologies, building construction, and structural design. He was part of the team 2038, the German Pavilion at 17th Venice Architecture Biennale 2021.
His early teaching experiences include guest studios at the University of Innsbruck (Austria) and Politecnico di Milano (Italy). He is regularly invited to give lectures and guest critiques at universities, cultural institutions, and public institutions. His focus is on new ecological construction materials and methods for adaptive reuse and renovation projects, seeking pragmatic and efficient technical and mechanical solutions that use material and construction thoughtfully.
bplus.xyz (b+) is a collaborative architecture practice (led by Arno Brandlhuber, Olaf Grawert, Jonas Janke and Roberta Jurčić) that operates at the intersection of theory and practice, using different media and formats. The practice seeks to engage with the contemporary challenges of our time, particularly those related to the social-ecological transformation of existing buildings, offering economically viable solutions.
b+ understands architecture as an open process, and views buildings as part of larger systems that require a systemic approach. The practice sees the given framework of existing buildings and legislation as an active design tool with the potential for transformation. Thus, b+ celebrates the potential of the existing built environment and aims to reveal and activate the latent potentials within.
b+ emphasizes working with different actors and stakeholders in project development. The practice values their knowledge and expertise and aims to create spaces for exchange and collaboration. b+ seeks to advance a new value system in architecture, one that places greater emphasis on collective responsibility, systemic thinking, and ecologically and economically viable solutions.
The current project in the field of political activism is the European citizens’ initiative HouseEurope! – HouseEurope! wants to create incentives that make renovation the new norm. This will boost the renovation market and give new value to what is already there. The goal is to preserve homes and communities, ensure a fairer and more local building industry, save energy and resources, and preserve our memories and stories.
past events
Wed, Feb 4, 2026
Showcase
Andreu Llos, LLOS&
Design-focused website development
Based on a showcase of web projects developed in collaboration with design studios, we will analyze how design decisions directly influence development, animations, interactions, and the final result. We will look at real examples of handoffs, what information is key to smooth development, and what mistakes lead to rework, unnecessary feedback, or deviations from the original design.
Andreu Llos is the founder and director of LLOS&. After more than a decade working with design studios, he manages web projects where design, technology, and process must be aligned from the outset. His role focuses on defining technical criteria, supporting creative teams, and ensuring that visual proposals translate into solid digital products that are faithful to the design.
© Arnau Rovira Vidal
LLOS& is a web development studio based in Barcelona, specializing in digital projects with a strong focus on design. The studio works closely with creative teams to develop custom websites, working with different stacks (from WordPress to headless architectures with Nuxt) and paying special attention to the front-end, animations, interactions, and the robustness of the final result.
Jan 26—30, 2026
Workshop
David Galar, Thru
Motion Systems
Only for MVD students
We are witnessing a new way of consuming information as today’s digital media presents as the new information container. If we look at this from a graphic design point of view, we could say that we are in front of new ways of communication.
In this workshop we will study the possibilities offered by these new media and we will learn to adapt what we want to communicate via an optimal format for digital media.
Animated graphic systems consist of developing the audiovisual behavior of a brand through a creative concept that uses motion as the main axis of communication.
We will develop an animated graphic system that reflects the values behind a brand and will develop them into digital media communication.
David Galar is a graphic designer specialized in motion design. Graduated in Graphic Design and postgraduate in Motion graphics by Idep Barcelona and Diploma in Marketing and Business Management by ESIC and Skema Business School. He worked at Mucho studio where he developed, mainly, identity projects. From 2015 to 2018 he worked as a freelance, in 2019 he founded the Gimmewings studio and later, in 2022 he founded the Motion Design studio Thru.
Thru is a motion design studio that specializes in using animation and interaction to communicate concepts through movement.
Wed, Jan 28, 2026
Graphic — Elisava lectures
7.30 pm — Sala Aleix Carrió
Open to the public
Delphine Volkaert, Base Design
Designing for the living web
Designing for the living web
What if the web wasn’t a place we design for but a medium we design with?
A space that listens, responds, remembers, and occasionally drifts off script.
What happens when digital experiences carry presence and intent? When identity shifts in real time? And how can that change the way we perceive a brand today?
This talk offers a moment to pause – a reminder that the web is not static, but alive, restless, and open to endless possibilities.
Delphine Volkaert is a Senior Digital Designer at Base Design Brussels. After graduating from La Cambre and broadening her perspective through an exchange at EINA in Barcelona, she has spent ten years exploring how brands behave and evolve online. Her work begins with clear, conceptual ideas that she develops into responsive and dynamic digital systems. She is driven by the openness of the digital realm – a space where identity can constantly shift, reinvent itself, and move beyond fixed forms.
Base Design is an international network of creative studios. A company of cultures working across Brussels, New York, Geneva, Melbourne, Saigon, and our Digital studio.
We’re independent by nature and connected by choice. Each studio is rooted in its own city and culture, yet linked by shared curiosity, craft, and values. Together we work across strategy, design, and technology to create ideas that move with the world – clear, meaningful, and built to last.
Founded in the early ’90s, Base continues to evolve through collaboration. Today, the group is led by partners across all studios, shaping a model that grows through difference rather than duplication.
Wed, Jan 21, 2026
Case studies
Xavier Lienas, Bakoom
Narrative-driven design
Only for MVD students
The talk will take the audience on a journey through the evolution of a design studio, highlighting a narrative-driven approach to design and its impact on graphic solutions. The talk breaks down selected projects to reveal how storytelling guides creative choices from concept to final outcome.
Xavier Lienas is a graphic designer and creative director with more than 15 years of experience. After some years working as a designer for agencies & studios, in 2014, he
co-founded BAKOOM, where he develops identities, campaigns, and communication projects for a wide range of brands, companies, and institutions. In addition, he is the
co-founder of Latent Festival and he combines his professional practice with teaching at design universities, where he lectures on design and creative project direction.
We are Bakoom, a graphic design studio where we approach each project as a unique narrative. Guided by a strong conceptual mindset, we combine strategy, storytelling, and bold aesthetics to create visual identities and graphic solutions with clarity and character.
Our work has been recognized with ADG Laus and European Design Awards, consolidating a career that combines concept, emotion, and visual strategy. We are also the founders and directors of Latent Festival, an event dedicated to emerging talent in design and creativity.
Wed, Jan 21, 2026
Bookworm
Awarded books
Only for MED students
In this first session we will try to find out what makes a well-designed book and what factors determine excellence in editorial design. We will look at recent examples of award-winning publications from the Most Beautiful Swiss Books,Best Book Design From All Over The World and the LAUS Awards. By browsing through the books we will be able to feel their material presence and examine the elements that make them up: binding, paper, composition, typography and the fit between form and content. Moreover, through the verdict of these prestigious prizes awarded by specialists, we will be able to analyse current trends in editorial design. Each student will be able to express their opinion and choose their own favorites according to his or her own sensibility.
In the Bookworm sessions we will explore iconic magazines and books that capture the spirit of the era in which they were created. The material comes from Elisava’s library collections, especially from its Reserve Fund, which contains publications that, due to their design, constitute a journey through the best of the past and present of modern graphics applied to the field of editorial design.
The Bookworm sessions are guided by Andreu Jansà, librarian and curator of the Enric Bricall Reserve Fund.
We will place the publications in their context and try to define what makes them relevant in the history of editorial design in the 20th and 21st centuries. The direct contact with the books and magazines that we will see in each session will allow us to experience the printed document from a material point of view: binding, paper, lay out, illustrations, typography. We will also be able to assess the adequacy between form and content.
Wed, Dec 17, 2025
showcase
Marc Torrell, Usted
I don’t write very well
Only for MVD students
In this session, I will share the stories and the behind-the-scenes details of some of the projects I have participated in throughout my career from a strategy and verbal identity perspective. The goal is to showcase the key aspects of my work and the impact it has on the design and visual creation processes of the teams I collaborate with.
It’s going to be mostly about words, but please don’t panic, I’ll be showing some images too.
Marc Torrell
I’ve loved writing since I was a kid. As I grew older, I wrote less. The novels and poems I once dreamed of writing turned into headlines, simple concepts, and brand names. I graduated in Advertising and Audiovisual Communication, worked for large international agencies and dinosaur clients, and later discovered the meaning of design through collaborations with studios like Mucho, Hey, Lo Siento, Querida, and Pràctica. In 2013, I co-founded Usted with my friend and partner, Martí Pujolàs.
We consider Usted a hybrid between a traditional advertising agency and a design studio. The focus, whatever the project is, is always the same: strategic thinking, concept with longevity and carefully crafted art direction. We work straight with clients or collaborate with fellow studios in conceptualization and verbal identity tasks for clients of all sizes and markets.
Wed, Dec 10, 2025
masters’ talks
19:30 h — Event at DHub
Open to the public
Ronan Bouroullec
Day After Day: Rencontre with Ronan Bouroullec
Day After Day
Despite not always being entirely comfortable with the label “designer,” Ronan Bouroullec is undeniably among the most prolific and admired practitioners working today. For more than three decades, his Paris atelier—led with his brother Erwan until 2023—has produced a remarkable series of “singular objects,” often in collaboration with leading design manufacturers such as Alessi, Artek, and Vitra. In a special conversation with journalist Anne Quito, Bouroullec reflects on the arc of his career and explains how his drawing practice has remained a central pillar of his life and work. Vignettes from his latest monograph, Ronan Bouroullec: Day After Day (Phaidon, 2023) will be a highlight of the evening.
© Marion Berrin
Born in Quimper, Brittany, Ronan Bouroullec is a celebrated artist and designer based in Paris. His studio, formerly led with his younger brother Erwan, has collaborated with some of the world’s most prestigious design companies, including Artek, Alessi, Cappellini, Galerie Kreo, Hay, Kartell, Kvadrat, Magis, Mattiazzi, Mutina, and Vitra. Also a prolific artist, his drawings have been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide, including the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Ronan Bouroullec’s studio, founded 30 years ago, is based in Paris and comprises a team of six assistants.
Wed, Nov 26, 2025
graphic.elisava lectures
7.30 pm — Sala Aleix Carrió
Open to the public
Anja Kaiser
Undisciplined Toolkit
The undisciplined toolkit speaks of forgotten and ‘messy’ stories, introducing a wide range of unconventional surfaces and strategies to bridge the gap between autonomous and commissioned work. Tools shape the way we point and wipe, but they also reflect what we crush and what we tackle. This lecture explores the urge to push the boundaries of tools and move beyond purely pragmatic functions—touching on bureaucratic creativity, role-playing, and alternative narratives. To work undisciplined means to navigate chaos, drifting between knowledge and unknowing.
©Simone C. Niquille
Since 2011, Anja Kaiser has been working independently, engaging in various collaborations with other graphic designers and programmers. Until March 2023, she held the interim Professorship for Typography at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig. 2017, she received the INFORM Award from the Gallery of Contemporary Art Leipzig, recognizing conceptual design practices. In 2020, Le Signe – Centre National du Graphisme in Chaumont dedicated a comprehensive exhibition to her work. In 2021, together with Rebecca Stephany, she co-edited the “Glossary of Undisciplined Design,” published by Spector Books.
Anja Kaiser is a graphic designer and artist working across cultural and subcultural contexts. Her practice engages with the appropriation of resistant media, and undisciplined methods. She explores alternative narratives and porous tools within graphic design. Her work investigates the thresholds between graphic design, art, and music. Since 2018, she has been responsible, together with Jim Kühnel, for the visual concept of the Rewire Festival. She also occasionally builds furniture—such as tables for the Study Rooms at the Bauhaus Dessau—or hosts sound art events as part of a collective.
Nov 17 — 21, 2025
workshop
Patrick Thomas
H2O
Only for MED students
Water holds deep cultural, historical, and environmental significance in Barcelona. It has shaped the city’s identity, economy, and urban landscape for centuries. The sea has long connected Barcelona to trade, migration, and cultural exchange, while fountains, beaches, and promenades highlight its presence in daily life. Following decades of drought and the emergence of annual flooding as the new normal, water will play an increasingly critical role in the city’s / region’s / country’s / continent’s / planet’s future.
During the five-day workshop, participants will choose a subject related to the topic and produce a 12–16 page DIN A4 publication documenting their thoughts using three print techniques.
The aim of the workshop is to develop participants’ observational, research, editing, writing, layout and publishing skills.
Subject matter may be historic, contemporary or speculative.
Patrick Thomas is a graphic artist, author and educator. He studied at Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art in London before relocating to Barcelona in 1991.
He currently lives and works in Berlin. He has exhibited his limited-edition silkscreens across five continents, where many are now held in private and public collections.
Since October 2013 he is a professor at Staatlichen Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart. He is a member of Alliance Graphique.
Wed, Nov 19, 2025
masterclass
Gabriel Ventura
Copy pop: new narratives in contemporary music
Only for MVD students
Copy pop: new narratives in contemporary music
In this session, we will explore how a number of musicians from different eras and styles have created narratives that bring meaning and complexity to their albums. When did music shift from a collection of songs to the “concept album” and why? What is the purpose of these narratives? How do they expand the story a record tells? And why does an album need stories to accompany it?
@ Lluís Tudela
Gabriel Ventura (Granollers, 1988) is a poet. He holds a degree in Humanities and a Master’s in Literary, Art and Thought Studies from Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). His work explores poetry, performance, and moving image as creative media. His books include W (2017), Notes for an Eye Fire (2020) —which inspired a homonymous exhibition at MACBA—, The Portuguese Night (2021) —a shooting diary for a film by Albert Serra—, and The Best of Impossible Worlds (2025). He works at the intersection of poetry and other arts, collaborating with visual artists, filmmakers, and musicians such as Rosa Tharrats, Albert Serra and Rosalía. He is currently the director of POESIA i + festival and lecturer at BAU.
Gabriel Ventura’s creative journey often begins with poetry, extending into action, pedagogy, research and video. In his approach, literature serves as a powerful tool to foster emotional connections in an era marked by hyper-information and global dispersion. Ventura views his texts as enigmatic and independent entities with the potential to reshape the reality that envelops them. His work reflects a holistic exploration of the arts, using poetry as a starting point to engage with diverse disciplines and mediums, ultimately contributing to a transformative and interconnected creative landscape.
Nov 10 — 14, 2025
workshop
Prof Dr Martin Lorenz, TwoPoints.Net
Systemic Type Design
Only for MVD students
Systemic Type Design
We live in a (new) golden age of systemic type design. New technologies and easy to use software leveled the playfield for emerging designers and gave them the chance to experiment with new ideas. The world of display fonts has witnessed a lot of new impulses in the last years. Type has become more flexible, variable and kinetic as ever, adjusting efficiently and effectively to new communication channels.
Systemic Type Design is more than designing fonts. A type system is an efficient design tool that helps designers to design. If done well, the act of writing is the act of designing without the need to further layout the text. In this course we will develop an experimental type system that almost automatically generates fantastic design applications.
Martin Lorenz could well have become a chef, comic book artist, or architect, had it not been for an internship at the Müller + Volkmann design studio. Lorenz studied Graphic Design at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences and at the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) in The Hague. After working for four years at the Hort studio, he moved to Barcelona to found TwoPoints.Net with Lupi Asensio and completed his Master’s and PhD in Design Research at the University of Barcelona. Lorenz has been teaching at Elisava since 2006 and still enjoys cooking.
Wed, Nov 12, 2025
masters’ talks
7.30 pm — Event at DHub
Open to the public
Dries Depoorter
Surveillance art, dying phones, and fake likes
Surveillance art, dying phones, and fake likes
In this engaging talk, Dries Depoorter delves into his world of his art, blending the boundaries between technology and creativity. Attendees will be taken on a journey through Depoorter’s recent and upcoming projects, offering insights into the conceptual and technical processes behind his works. Dries will showcase live demonstrations of his art in the form of giving away likes or followers. This lecture offers a unique opportunity to learn more about the projects that have brought him worldwide recognition.
Belgian creative technologist and artist Dries Depoorter, based in Ghent, creates thought-provoking work about technology, surveillance, AI and social media in a playful way that makes people laugh while delivering serious messages in an accessible way. His projects explore digital culture that can inspire marketers: privacy challenges, artificial intelligence applications, surveillance and authentic social media projects.
With his unique background in electronics and digital innovation, Dries has become a voice for forward-thinking brands and marketing professionals looking to navigate today’s complex digital landscape. His artistic approach can directly inspire brands to think differently and develop original marketing concepts that stand out. Through his work, Dries demonstrates how combining creativity with technological insight creates viral moments.
His award-winning “Die With Me” app, accessible only when a user’s phone battery drops below 5%, demonstrates how scarcity and unique user experiences can create powerful engagement. On Black Friday, he doubles the price of his app instead of offering discounts, showing brands how breaking marketing rules can create attention.
In his viral project “The Follower” Dries leverages open cameras and AI to reveal the reality behind curated Instagram moments—offering marketers an unfiltered look at consumer behavior and content creation.
Meanwhile, ”The Flemish Scrollers” uses AI to automatically identify politicians using smartphones during parliamentary sessions, highlighting how technology can create accountability and transparency in public spaces.
Dries has exhibited at prestigious venues including the Barbican in London, Art Basel, Mutek Festival in Montreal,ZKM, Bozar, WIRED and Ars Electronica.
