Royal College of Art Students' Union

Get ready for the RCASU Students’ Union Elections! 🗳️
These annual elections are your chance to shape campus life. Two crucial positions, President and Vice-President, will be up for grabs, allowing elected students to represent their interests to the administration and beyond.

Head to the link in our bio for more information and how to nominate yourself for the role of President and Vice-President of the RCA Students’ Union.

Christmas fete spotlight 🌟

Our Christmas fete kicks off tomorrow! Here are some more titbits of the wonderful art that will be on sale tomorrow 👀🎉

📍 Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, SW7 2EU

1. .dustdust handmade rugs and tufting products

2. Narsid engages with mythology, religious iconography, semiotics, and poetic rendition of art.

3. returns this year with a range of winter decorations handmade with metal, stone and recycled objects

4. ._ handmade accessories

5. ‘suck green and see’ casual zine series shows people’s work in the field

6. handmade earrings

7. ‘home, here’ print

8. .pli clothes that grow to reduce waste

9. and COP studio

10. sparkling pendants created with refined metalworking techniques

See you there! From 1pm- 8pm with refreshments available 🎄💫🌟

Wobble Week - 11th - 15th November
Starting university can be overwhelming with all its intensity! To help with the “wobble” that often comes along, the SU and Student Support are hosting a range of activities designed to foster connection, support, and community. Check our website for more details—snacks and refreshments will be provided!

Games Night | 11.11.24 | 4pm onwards in the ArtBar, Kensington
Clothes Swap | 12.11.24 | 12-2pm | Courtyard Gallery, Kensington
Quiz Night | 13.11.24 | 5:30 - 8pm | ArtBar, Kensington
Arts & Crafts | 14.11.24 | 2-4pm | LoungeBar, Kensington

We’re back for the 13th year running! 🎉

RCASU Christmas Féte 🎄presents to you unique arts and gifts from upcoming and established artists from RCA.

Established in 2012, RCASU indoor market showcases bespoke items from the creative minds of RCA artists and designers - think ceramics, jewellery, print, zines, illustrations, textiles and many more!
We welcome you to visit our stalls on the 5th, 6th and 7th December from 1pm - 8pm.
📍 Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore (Royal Albert Hall entrance), SW7 2EU
Watch this space for list of artists and designers present at the fair! We’ll be updating our page regularly with featured artists.

Illustration by Andrew Sviridov MA Visual Communications 2024


🎁

🎉 Kicking off the first SU Exhibition of the academic year! 🎉

RESONANCES will be showcased at the Hockney Gallery from 12-14 November, with a private view on Wednesday, 13 November, 6-9pm. Open to the public and curated by Giulio Cuccagna.

Featuring artists:









📍: Hockney Gallery, Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore (Jay Mews entrance), SW7 2EU

Come support your peers and enjoy a pop-up bar! Don’t miss it!

Our COL fund is now live! Apologies for the delay. Please fill out our google form (which can be found on our website rcasu.org.uk/support/financialsupport/costoflivingfund) to receive a £50 supermarket voucher for either Tesco or Asda during this time of high food prices and economic uncertainty. Please note that applications are limited to one per student per term to ensure fair distribution, so duplicate applications will not be processed.

Diwali Festival ! 🪔

Co-hosted with the RCASU Desi Society, we bring you an evening of celebrations, to welcome the festival of light.
There will be Desi Music, food, sweets, potluck as well as Rangoli makings on the dance floor. Dress in your best traditions attire and see you this Friday at 6pm!

Join us for our annual Halloween 🎃 Late in the ArtBar next Thursday 31st October 7pm - Midnight

We have a thrilling late celebration with live DJ performances, eerie vibes, and unbeatable spooky cocktail deals! Show off your creativity in our costume competition—there are prizes for the most imaginative outfits. Don’t miss out on the fun, the event is free and no need to book! See you there!

Poster design by

Two of our Cost of Living initiatives were launched last week! We have introduced a weekly breakfast club, where you can come along for a free cold breakfast and a coffee, and a fortnightly essentials hub, where you can select some food and toiletries if you are struggling financially.

Our breakfast club runs from 9-11am in the ArtLounge (Kensington) every Tuesday and we offer a selection of cold breakfast food, such as bread, cereal, breakfast bars, tea and coffee etc. You don’t have to sit down and stay either, although we are always up for a chat.

Our Essentials hub runs fortnightly in STE132 (Stevens, Kensington) from 12-2pm. We have a limited amount of funds so anticipate only being able to distribute to around 35-40 students per time on a first-come, first-serve basis. You can select up to 10 items each. The next Essentials hub will take place NEXT Tuesday (the 29th October).

MONDAY:
Meet the Sabbs - 09/09/24 - 12pm
Courtyard Gallery - Kensington
Hyde Park Picnic - 09/09/24 - 1pm - Hyde Park - Meeting point 1pm by outside Kensgton Campus reception. If it rains as it typical of London, we will use the SU building space as well as SCR in the Frayling building
Friendship Mixer - 09/09/24 - 5pm-ArtBar & ArtLounge

TUESDAY:
Meet the Sabbs 10/09/24 12:00 - 13:00 DesignBar
Battersea Park Picnic 10/09/24 13:00 - 15:00
Battersea Park - Meeting point 1pm outside reception, Dyson building. If it rains we will use the DesignBar space
Quiz 10/09/24 17:30 - 19:00 DesignBar
Karaoke & Games Social 10/09/24 17:00 - 20:00
ArtBar & ArtLounge
White City Picnic 11/09/24 13:00 - 15:00
White City - Meeting Point at 1pm outside White City Campus Recpetion or meet directly at the Japanese Garden Park, 5 mins walk from campus. IF it rains Room GH111 will be used
Board Games Social 11/09/24 17:00 - 19:00
White City GH111
International Student Mixer 11/09/24 17:00 - 19:00
ArtBar & ArtLounge
Meet the Sabbs 12/09/24 12:00 - 13:00
White City Garden Cafe
Arts & Crafts Session 12/09/24 14:00 - 16:00 DesignBar
Quiz 12/09/24 17:30 - 19:30 ArtBar
International Student Mixer 12/09/24 17:00 - 19:00 DesignBar
Welcome Fair 13/09/24 11:00 - 16:00
Courtyard Gallery 1 & 2
ArtBar Party 13/09/24 20:00 - 00:00

🎉 Last week, RCASU, in collaboration with the Student Experience team, hosted our inaugural Student Led Award Ceremony! 🏆 This milestone event celebrated the exceptional contributions of our academic staff, tutors, technical services technicians, and all the vital teams supporting our students. With 12 categories and over 50 nominees, here are the winners:

- Best Society Award: SustainLab
- Society Most Official Membership: Life Drawing Society
- Programme Rep of the Year: Janmejay Singh
- EDI Rep of the Year Award: Artemis Weng
- Outstanding Service Award (team): Cleaning Team
- Outstanding Service Award (individual): Seare Hadush and Simon Ward
- Innovative Student Experience Initiative Award: Student Community Fund
- Inclusivity Champion Award: Tom Simmons
- PHD Supervisor Award: Jaspar Joseph-Lester
- Innovative Teaching Award: Chantal Faust
- Outstanding Tutor Award: Spyros Bofylatos
- Officers Choice Award: Laura Rogan

Congratulations to all the winners! 🎉

A special thanks to Royal Sounds Society for their incredible performance blending contemporary and traditional Indian music. And a huge thanks to Andrew Svidirov for his stunning awards desgins – those doughnuts with the promo images were amazing! 🍩✨

🎉 Last week, RCASU, in collaboration with the Student Experience team, hosted our inaugural Student Led Award Ceremony! 🏆 This milestone event celebrated the exceptional contributions of our academic staff, tutors, technical services technicians, and all the vital teams supporting our students. With 12 categories and over 50 nominees, here are the winners:

-Best Society Award: SustainLab
-Society Most Official Membership: Life Drawing Society
-Programme Rep of the Year: Janmejay Singh
-EDI Rep of the Year Award: Artemis Weng
-Outstanding Service Award (team): Cleaning Team
-Outstanding Service Award (individual): Seare Hadush and Simon Ward
-Innovative Student Experience Initiative Award: Student Community Fund
-Inclusivity Champion Award: Tom Simmons
-PHD Supervisor Award: Jaspar Joseph-Lester
-Innovative Teaching Award: Chantal Faust
-Outstanding Tutor Award: Spyros Bofylatos
-Officers Choice Award: Laura Rogan

Congratulations to all the winners! 🎉

A special thanks to Royal Sounds for their incredible performance blending contemporary and traditional Indian music. And a huge thanks to Andrew Svidirov for his stunning awards desgins – those doughnuts with the rpomo images were amazing! 🍩✨

READ ENTWINEMENT, BATTERSEA MEZZANINE, JUNE 3-7.

The SU is delighted to announce our first exhibition in the Battersea Mezzanine, Read Entwinement. The exhibition is curated by MA Curating Contemporary Art student Yeneul Kim and artists Seongeun Lee (MA Textiles) and Bogyeom Kim (MA Design Products).

“ Read Entwinement presents a combination of two materials. By using textile and metal, which have contrasting properties, we drew inspiration from each other in terms of materials and established a new perspective. It deconstructs the traditional images, and reconfigures them through collaborative works. By blending the flexibility of textiles with the sturdiness of metal, it moves beyond material usage and suggests experimental expressions.”

🐝🎉 Buzzing with excitement for World Bee Day! To kick off of RCASU Green Week, we’re giving away some sweet FreeBees! 🐝🌼

Come by the ArtBar Terrace during your lunch break (form 12:30pm - 3:30pm) to pot plants for our buzzing buddies. Whether you’re into indoor greens or outdoor blooms, we’ve got seeds and herbs for you to choose from! And don’t forget to grab a mini honey pot to take home. 🍯🌿 Let’s get planting and make our bees happy! 🐝🌸
We will also be in the Battersea Campus, DesignBar this Thursday 23rd May to continue our Pollination FreeBee pop-up event!

If you’re not at the ArtBar, soaking in the sun, drinking an aperol spritz and enjoying the view…don’t worry! We’re open until 10 every day of the week, and check out that weather forecast 🥳🍸

RCA Africa presents: Earthen Reverie

This April 08-12th April, RCA Africa will be curating Earthen Reverie.
This non-academic show positions Africa as the central mediator of its material-temporal
crafts and possibilities.
Earthen Reverie will exhibit 18 RCA Africa artists from varying disciplines across the
Royal College of Art. We invite all RCA students and staff to delight in our earthly
dreamings on 08th April 6-9pm.
Other opening times:
09th-10th: 2-9pm
(Public Viewing) 11th: 2-9pm (bar, 6-9pm)
12th: 2-9pm
Exhibition Poster designed by: Chisom Ibe and Ebunoluwa Adepoju
Screenprint assistant: Timi Shogbola

The non academic shows are now open for the 3rd and final round! There is only one spot available this time, the Upper Gulbenkian 15th - 19th April.
Apply now via the link in our bio or on our website. Deadline 18th March!

RCASU General Elections 2024

Meet your Vice-Presidential Candidates!

Arnaud Ivaldi, MA Photography (running on a slate with Sofiia Vinnichenko)

Janmejay Singh, MA Digital Direction

Roisin Sullivan, MA Contemporary Art Practice

To view their full manifesto and what they are running for, head to our website to follow the link in the bio for more details.