Mastermundo Creative Conference

About

Sometimes all the right circumstances are there for the birth of something new. Like now. The Royal Academy of art celebrates their 325 year anniversary, the TodaysArt festival that takes over The Hague for a couple of days and the brand new study Interactive / Media / Design with a high ambition.

Interactive / Media / Design
Royal Academy of Art [KABK]
The TodaysArt Festival

Interactive / Media / Design [I/M/D]
Interactive / Media / Design (IMD) is the youngest study program of the KABK. With ‘interactive’ we mean all possible forms of interaction on-line as well as off-line, man versus man as well as man versus machine/moments/etc. With ‘media’ we mean by use of every developed or yet to be developed medium. And with ‘design’ we mean using design as a tool to make ideas and concepts accessible, usable and heard. This also means that it can be ugly as long as it serves your predefined goal. It won’t be about designing that great interface or how you can make things move over distance by rubbing a stuffed animal. It will be about educating the designers who live in the present with respect for the past and a view on the future. Not held back by any medium, mean, methodology, technique or technology. Since we live in interesting times where opportunities are virtually endless, these opportunities will be the toolbox of the designers when they graduate at KABK. This means that they should be able to use all possible ways to interact with people through any kind of medium, to get their message across. Not limited by versions of software or limitations in hardware or anything at all. If it doesn’t exist yet they should be the spark that starts the fire.

The IMD students and staff have to work with real problems, real people and real conflicts. It should never be out of touch with what is happening in society. Students should be brave to take risks. Creative, ambitious, curious, social-engaged. The right balance between tradition and renewal. A unique educational program for young people who wish to make a positive difference in society. The criteria for success won’t be only that students get good jobs after they graduate but moreover that they are able to create new and exiting jobs. The study should always have a direct link with the private, public and voluntary sector. The idea is to help organisations and individuals master the capability for innovation and creativity – leveraging the IMD philosophy and methodology, combining the disciplines creative concept, project and process design.

Pool of Masterminds
The ever-expanding 'Pool of Masterminds' comprises of exceptional people in varying disciplines, from architecture to experience marketing to designers, both from The Netherlands and abroad. Mastermundo's concept and speakers follow the internationally oriented art education at the KABK closely, and students find themselves in the center of society. I/M/D students develop medium-independent concepts, and are educated to be a new generation of designer: one that crosses disciplinary borders, ventures into new areas of the working field and can make clever links and connections. During the study, each 2 weeks a Mastermind visits I/M/D to challenge, inspire, motivate the students. For the most recent overview of the Masterminds, visit I/M/D's weblog and look at the list on the right or search the blog with 'mastermind' as search term.

Coordinator Interactive / Media / Design
Marcel Kampman, m.kampman [at] kabk.nl

Links
IMD Blog
IMD Booklog, opens in browser (requires Acrobat Reader)
IMD Booklog, download (requires Acrobat Reader)

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Royal Academy of Art [KABK]
The Royal Academy of Art (KABK) has the opinion that art is, national and international, one of the most important and innovative sources of energy for our society. Self-willed and researching artists and designers will keep these sources alive. The Royal Academy is searching for these kinds of people and would like to give them the opportunity to develop themselves here. Students have to find and are stimulated to look behind their boundaries.

In addition to bachelor studies: ArtScience, Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Interactive / Media / Design, Interior design, Photograpy and Textile and Fashion, the KABK offers master studies as well . We offer the one year study Type and Media, Image and Sound / ArtScience and the Post Graduate Course Industrial Design. About one thousand students are currently studying at the KABK, fifteen percent of these are foreign students. The students are offered ateliers, multiple material shops, eight professionally equipped work places and free internet. The KABK has 160 teachers, all of whom have an active professional career as an artist or designer besides their teaching job. Since 1990 the KABK forms together with the Royal Conservatoire the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Music and Dance. The KABK is the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design. We are actively involved with the Faculty of Creative and Performing Arts of the University of Leiden. This is why many study elements of this University are available for the students of the KABK, such as the master programmes Media Technology and Photographic Studies.

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The TodaysArt Festival
Fans of adventurous and groundbreaking creativity in design, music, art, fashion, modern dance, photography, art-science, theatre, film, video screenings, presentations and debates: pack your bags and fly with us to the third edition of the TodaysArt Festival, which takes place on the 21st and 22nd of September 2007 in the city centre of The Hague, codenamed THX: The Hague International Airport.

Artists from all four corners of the world will touch down for a weekend of unique and cutting edge artistic showcases, exhibitions, performances and club nights. Talented explorers invite you to witness their own personal take on today’s creativity. Together, their contributions form an inspiring and adventurous program.

The TodaysArt Festival brings a whole range of innovative and groundbreaking acts to the Netherlands. The third edition of the festival takes place at more than 25 locations in the city centre, both in- and outdoor. The program consists of more than 200 artists from over 25 countries, representing nearly every art discipline imaginable and putting The Hague on the international map as the stage par excellence for contemporary creativity.

Expect musical genres such as dubstep, techno, detroit, hiphop, italo disco, rave, disco, ambient, minimal, dancehall, hiphop, baila funk, darkcore, IDM, glitch, trance, breakbeat, bitpop, electro, motorrock and lo-fi. In addition, our Detroit Special, the French/German/UK-programs, the HipHop-program and the female-artists-only booty shaking dancehall baila disco party will keep you moving until early in the morning.

For two days, the city centre of The Hague will function as one big festival terrain, with performances both in the public domain and on several indoor stages. Interactive installations, projections and acts use the city centre as a stage and will transform The Hague into an inspiring stronghold of audiovisual experiences.

The TodaysArt Festival provides a unique opportunity to experience the creativity of a wide range of pioneers, improvisers, and inspired anti-conformists, who will transport you to sonic and visual destinations that will surpass all expectations.

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