LONDON, 2 June 2026 — The Royal College of Art (RCA), widely recognized as the world’s leading art and design university, has announced RCA2026, a month-long programme of exhibitions and events that will showcase the work of more than 1,600 postgraduate students across its London campuses.
Running from 18 June to 19 July 2026, RCA2026 will offer visitors an opportunity to explore innovative projects spanning Arts & Humanities, Architecture, Communication, and Design. Free and open to the public, the annual showcase highlights emerging creative talent addressing some of the most pressing social, environmental, and cultural issues of our time.
The programme begins with the School of Arts & Humanities Show at the RCA’s Battersea campus from 18–21 June. Among the featured projects is Terra Strata by MA Ceramics & Glass student Aninda Singh, which examines the links between ecology, colonial histories, and consumer culture through clay structures inspired by termite mounds and botanical histories. Also on display is A BALLAD by MA Painting student Amanda Seibæk, a multimedia installation exploring whale communication, ecological loss, and the impact of human-generated underwater noise.
The School of Architecture Show will take place at the Kensington campus from 3–5 July. Featured works include MA Architecture student Aiden Dutton’s project on beaver-led flood management along London’s Brent River, proposing new models of coexistence between humans and wildlife. Meanwhile, MA Interior Design student Ruoyi Wu presents Off The Clock, a speculative exploration of commuting culture, burnout, and resistance to productivity-driven lifestyles in a near-future Shanghai.
Also beginning on 3 July, the Festival of Communication will be staged in two parts at the White City campus and surrounding areas. Highlights include MA Visual Communication student Aadya Naik’s investigation into recipes as incomplete records of cultural knowledge, and MA Digital Direction student Annie Ziying Liu’s multimedia film exploring faith, posthumanism, and feminism through a combination of illustration, animation, and three-dimensional modelling.
The showcase concludes with the School of Design EXPO at Battersea from 17–19 July, while MA Fashion presentations will take place at Kensington from 16–18 July. Featured projects include Junghyun Kim’s Londonban, which reimagines a traditional Korean dining table to encourage social connection and sustainable practices in London, and Manxin Li’s speculative textile project inspired by the folklore of southern Fujian, China, exploring coexistence between humans, objects, and non-human entities.
In addition to the exhibitions, selected works by graduating students will be available through RCA Sales, a dedicated platform where visitors can purchase artwork and design pieces. The sales platform will operate from 17 June to 20 July 2026.
RCA2026 is expected to attract thousands of visitors, offering a glimpse into the ideas and innovations shaping the future of art, design, communication, and architecture.