Annually, theory teachers from various departments of the Royal Academy of Art nominate their department’s best thesis for the thesis award.
An independent and annually changing jury decides on the winning thesis award. The jury consists of a chair, an artist or designer teaching at the academy and/or the previous winner of the thesis award and an external member.
Jury 2021
Joost Grootens, ACPA staff member, Leiden University (jury chair)
Julia Steenhuisen, curator at Cobra Museum voor Moderne Kunst and coördinator Prijs voor de Jonge Kunstkritiek (external jury member)
Docus van der Made, teacher and curator at Melly, Rotterdam and ArtEZ University of Arts, Arnhem (external jury member)
BA Thesis Award Winner
Department : Bachelor Graphic Design
Name : Olga Elliot Schou
Title: : A Tale of Two Mermaids
Subtitle : Disrupting Narratives of Danish Colonization
Jury remarks:
Nuanced, personal, refreshing and authentic. These are the jury words to describe thesis. The jury found this thesis both theoretically intriguing and informing, the quality of the references is very high. The thesis is consistent, well written and the metaphor of the two mermaids is very smart. All in all this thesis scored highest on all points and is the winner of the BA Thesis Awards 2021.
BA Thesis Award honourable mention
Department : Bachelor Interactive Media Design
Name : Pamela Varela
Title: : body politics body poetics
Subtitle : from the body object to the body subject
Jury remarks:
The urgency of this thesis jumps off the page. The thesis is written in a way that grabs the reader, for the jury it was a joy to read. The thesis is theoretically and contextually well situated and the design of the thesis was both aesthetically interesting as it was relevant to the subject. The interwoven poetry was fascinating. It was a very close call with the winning thesis, therefor worth an honourable mention.
MA Thesis Award Winner
Department : Master Industrial Design
Name : Lucie Ponard
Title : Untangling Stories in Earth layers
Jury remarks:
The jury found the interplay of material experiment, theoretical reflection and visual documentation impressive, this makes this thesis a truly unique example of design research. The research is authentic and has integrity, the topic is relevant in its field. The rigour of the research and the beautiful imagery make this research relevant on both an academic and artistic level.
MA Thesis Award honourable mention
Department : MA Photography & Society
Name : Thana Faroq
Title: : There is a Blue Sky Today and No Rain
Subtitle : Interior Landscapes of Women in Exile in the Netherlands
Jury remarks:
The jury was very impressed and moved by this thesis which is both delicate and strong. The subject matter is urgent and the thesis manages to start lifting personal experience to a story with a more universal appeal. The thesis is well written and a great example of ethnographic research.
Digital theses
Link to all digital thesis nonimations
Nominees BA Departments
Department : Bachelor ArtScience
Name : Muireann Nic an Bheatha
Title: : From the Womb to Fake Tits
Subtitle : How plastic lives with, through and in-between us
Department : Bachelor Fine Art
Name : Bo Wielders
Title : Settling in Stories, Cities, and other Structures;
Subtitle : researching exclusion within the field of urbanism
Department : Bachelor Graphic Design
Name : Olga Elliot Schou
Title : A Tale of Two Mermaids
Subtitle : Disrupting Narratives of Danish Colonization
Department : Bachelor Interior Architecture & Furniture Design
Name : Kaja Hribšek
Title : The Organization of Power through Architecture and the Creation of Abstract Spaces influenced by Ideology
Department : Bachelor Interactive Media Design
Name : Pamela Varela
Title : body politics body poetics
Subtitle : from the body object to the body subject
Department : Bachelor Photography
Name : Lilli Weinstein
Title: : Blush in all colors of the brightest sunset
Subtitle : A Timid Exploration of The Invisible Treasures Inside Our Shells
Nominees MA Department
Department : Artistic Research
Name : Leonie Brandner
Title : Dreaming in the Museum
Subtitle : Potted Plants as Indicators of Trauma in Museological Settings
Department : Master Industrial Design
Name : Lucie Ponard
Title : Untangling Stories in Earth layers
Department : Master INSDE (Interior Architecture)
Name : Tereza Chronakova
Title: : This is the Countryside
Subtitle : Exploring the Czech countryside’s spatial and social challenges through the lenses of one small village in South Bohemia
Department : MA Photography & Society
Name : Thana Faroq
Title : There is a Blue Sky Today and No Rain
Subtitle : Interior Landscapes of Women in Exile in the Netherlands
Department : Master Non Linear Narrative
Name : Dario di Paolantonio
Title : In terra incognita
Subtitle : A path opened by multiple divergent worlds
