Collaborative Summer Schools UAL and Zurich University of the Arts

Theme: Arts and Society, 3 to 7 August 2026 in Berlin

Cities are sites of rapid and often conflicting social transformations. Digitisation, migration, climate change, social isolation, and the erosion of social spaces are pressing challenges in contemporary urban contexts which confront us with the unknown, the incompatible and unpredictable. This 1 week summer school in collaboration with Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) dives into these complexities to find new ways of inhabiting the city and re-imagining our spaces through artistic practice.

Using Berlin as a research field, this summer school will explore the urban space through a set of practice-based activities and theoretical considerations. Students will immerse themselves in a meaningful dialogue with the surrounding city and imagine possible urban futures to approach these transformations.

Walking alongside strangers, attempting forms of communication with insects, creating ephemeral street art, capturing soundscapes from infrastructures or mediating inside old buildings, students will engage and experiment with different forms of interaction between the human and non-human (buildings, plants, materials) reshaping their perception and future of the urban environment.

Urban interventions, participatory performances, collective rituals, walking practices and site-specific actions are at the core of the summer school, and students will also discuss and compare their observations with Berlin-based artists and activists working at the intersection of art and urban transformation.  
At the end of the summer school, each student develops a concept for a dialogical artwork addressing a specific theme or dimension of dialogue from the previous days.

About the tutors:

Eva Goudouneix is a community organiser based in London and Associate Lecturer at London College of Communication. She uses arts education as a catalyst for collective action - from workers cooperatives to community-led energy transitions. She is the Co-Founder of the London School of Solarpunk, a free alternative art school.

Markus Gerber is a theatre educator and performer. He is head of the BA Theatre, Theatre Education at Zurich University of the Arts. His research and work focus is on participatory art, co-creation and political education.

Theme: Arts and Technology, 10 to 14 August 2026 in London

The early history of digital art is often narrated through technological innovations and landmark machines, while the women who contributed to shaping the field from its earliest stages have received far less attention.

This 1 week summer school in collaboration with Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) sheds light on a critical understanding of the relationship between traditional textile arts and crafts, feminism, and technology.

Through a mix of lectures, laboratories, visits to London galleries and exhibitions, and practice-based activities, students will have the opportunity to explore the interwoven relationship between art and technology in a hands-on, collaborative context in the unique setting of UAL Creative Computing Institute.

The students will get the chance to work with tutors from ZHdK and UAL while experiencing London and developing their creative practices alongside critical thinking and technical skills, including introductory creative coding, pen plotting and digital embroidery. Alongside that, through guest lectures by artists and creative practitioners, students will engage topics such as the gendered history of the digital divide, and the translation of pixels into thread.

The final student project embodies both the theoretical and practical focus of the summer school. Over the course of this one-week intensive programme, participants will create an artwork using digital drawing tools such as the AxiDraw and/or a digital embroidery machine. In addition, students will develop a critical awareness of the historical intersections between art and technology.
At the end of the Summer School, students will gain relevant skills such as Interdisciplinary collaboration, basic understanding of creative coding principles and p5.js OR Processing, a nuanced understanding of the relationship between physical and digital design, and digitally manufactured artworks/ design pieces, a critical understanding of the relationship between traditional textile arts and crafts, feminism, and technology.

About the tutors:

Marie-France Rafael is a Professor at Zurich University of the Arts with a background in Art History and Film Studies. Her transdisciplinary research, writing, and teaching explore the role of contemporary art in human agency and social practices. She focuses on how digitalisation has evolved from a virtual social sphere into a technological interface that shapes embodied experience, with her work encompassing art history, gender studies, and media theory.

Marysia Tańska is a London-based computational designer and creative developer whose work bridges physical and digital realms through digital crafts and computational design. Her PhD research investigates the intersection of digital making, well-being, and accessibility, informed by personal experience. She is Associate Lecturer at UAL Creative Computing institute, currently teaching Creative Coding and Data Science. She brings a background in Architecture, Parametric Design, and Software Engineering to her practice.