The Royal College of Art has announced RCA2026, its annual programme of exhibitions and events showcasing the work of more than 1,600 graduating postgraduate students across London.
Running from 18th June to 19th July 2026, the city-wide showcase will take place across the RCA’s Battersea, Kensington and White City campuses, offering visitors a glimpse into the future of art, design, architecture and communication through a diverse range of projects spanning ecology, technology, identity, sustainability and social change.
As the world’s highest-ranked university for art and design, the Royal College of Art’s annual graduate exhibitions have long served as a platform for emerging practitioners whose work often goes on to shape contemporary culture. This year’s programme brings together students from the Schools of Arts & Humanities, Architecture, Communication and Design, presenting ambitious projects that reflect the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of creative practice.
Arts & Humanities
Opening the programme, the School of Arts & Humanities Show will take place at the RCA’s Battersea campus from 18th to 21st June.
Among the highlights is Terra Strata by Aninda Singh (MA Ceramics & Glass), which explores the enduring links between ecology, colonial histories and cultures of consumption. Combining clay structures inspired by termite mounds with botanical references, the work examines how systems of colonial exploitation continue to shape contemporary environmental and social realities.
Also featured is Amanda Seibæk’s (MA Painting) multimedia installation A BALLAD, which takes inspiration from a lone Pacific baleen whale whose calls fall beyond the hearing range of others. Combining moving image, sound and sculpture, the work reflects on communication, isolation and the ecological consequences of underwater noise pollution.
Architecture
From 3rd to 5th July, the School of Architecture Show takes over the RCA Kensington campus.
Aiden Dutton (MA Architecture) presents a project inspired by the reintroduction of beavers to London’s Brent River. Imagining architecture as a tool for coexistence between humans and wildlife, the proposal rethinks flood management through a network of volunteer hubs and ecological monitoring stations that encourage collective stewardship of dynamic urban landscapes.
Meanwhile, Ruoyi Wu (MA Interior Design) explores burnout, commuting culture and emotional resistance in contemporary Shanghai through Off The Clock. Combining speculative design, film and immersive environments, the project imagines temporary spaces of escape from productivity-driven routines and examines how architecture might support wellbeing in an increasingly demanding world.
Festival of Communication
The Festival of Communication returns to White City in two parts, running from 3rd–5th July and 10th–12th July.
Aadya Naik (MA Visual Communication) investigates the recipe as a form of cultural memory. Drawing on knowledge passed down through two grandmothers in India, the project examines how written recipes often fail to capture the embodied, sensory and oral traditions that shape cooking and communal experience.
Annie Ziying Liu (MA Digital Direction) combines animation, gaming technologies and interactive media in a project exploring posthumanism, feminism and faith. Blending two-dimensional illustration with three-dimensional modelling, her experimental film examines the coexistence of certainty and doubt through immersive visual storytelling.
Design Expo
The programme concludes with the School of Design EXPO at Battersea from 17th–19th July and MA Fashion at Kensington from 16th–18th July.
Junghyun Kim (MA Design Products) presents Londonban, a contemporary reinterpretation of the traditional Korean soban dining table. Adapting the form for contemporary British food culture, the project uses design as a tool for social connection, sustainability and shared experience.
Manxin Li (MA Textiles) draws on the folklore and vernacular histories of southern Fujian in China to create a speculative world where humans, objects and non-human entities exist within interconnected networks of consciousness. Through textiles and visual storytelling, the project explores coexistence beyond human-centred perspectives.
Alongside the exhibitions, a selection of works by graduating students will be available to purchase through RCA Sales (open 17th June – 20th July), the College’s dedicated platform supporting emerging artists and designers.
With projects addressing everything from climate resilience and ecological care to cultural memory, digital futures and collective identity, RCA2026 demonstrates the breadth of thinking emerging from one of the world’s leading creative institutions. For visitors, it offers an opportunity to discover the artists, designers and architects who may shape the next generation of contemporary culture.
RCA2026, 18th June – 19th July 2026, Royal College of Art campuses
Battersea, Kensington and White City, London Free admission
