Amina Abbas-Nazari is a practicing designer, researcher, and vocal performer.
Their work investigates intersectional and more-than-human approaches to design and technology, particularly via sonic theory and practice.

She is currently a Lecturer in Contextual and Theoretical Studies (CTS), across the design school at London College of Communication, UAL. She is also a postdoctoral researcher on the Scoring Warnings project ay the Royal College of Art. Scoring Warnings, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, mobilises artistic practices to interrogate the instructional mode of address in disaster preparedness. It examines crossovers between emergency communication and contemporary art to explore more inclusive, engaging, and effective ways of communicating risk.Scoring Warnings is a collaboration between the Royal College of Art, University of the Arts London’s Creative Research into Sound Arts Practice (CRiSAP), University College London’s Warning Research Centre (WRC), the Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction (GNDR), Tate Modern, East Gallery, Arnolfini, Hangar Barcelona and more.

She has researched the voice in conjunction with emerging technology since 2008 and recently completed a PhD in the School of Communication at the Royal College of Art, investigating the sound and sounding of voices in artificially intelligent conversational and machine listening systems. She previously studied MA Design Interactions and also previously worked as a Research Fellow on the EPSRC-funded Citizen Naturewatch project at RCA.

Her work has been presented internationally including the London Design Festival, Design Museum, Barbican Centre, V&A, Lisson Gallery, Milan Furniture Fair, Venice Architecture Biennial, Critical Media Lab, Switzerland, Litost Gallery, Prague and Harvard University, America.  She has performed internationally with choirs and regularly collaborates with artists as an experimental vocalist. 

Shade Abdul is an architect-planner, educator and PhD researcher. Her research explores critical spatial practice at the intersection of race and urban regeneration.

She is a Principal Planner within the Planning Policy team at Luton Borough Council where she is working with colleagues to prepare the new Local Plan for the town.

She is a member of the London Borough of Hounslow's Design Review Panel. She was a member of the Southwark Land Commission.

Her research supervision team is: Adriana Cobo Corey (DoS), Anna Minton, Jeremy Till.

I am a researcher, writer, editor and translator. My work looks at contemporary art practices from the Global South (particularly the SWANA region), de/anticolonial theory and art/experimental writing. The main strands of my research are: 1) archival work that redresses and repairs historical narratives shaped by colonialism; 2) multilingual writing and translation with an attention to minoritised languages such as dialects, vernaculars and creoles; 3) questions of land rights, agricultural commons and sustainable ecologies rooted in Indigenous cosmologies/epistemologies.

At UAL, I have been Postdoctoral Researcher-in Residence at the Decolonising Arts Institute (2020–21) and Research Fellow at Afterall since 2021. I am Managing Editor of the One Work and Two Works book series and Editor of Afterall Journal. I am also Managing Editor and contributor of the forthcoming monograph Nida Sinnokrot: Palestine is Not A Garden (Sternberg Press/MIT Press). I have recently translated The Overturned Pyramid, a collection of essays by Italian architect Giancarlo De Carlo, forthcoming with MIT Press. 

I completed my PhD in 2019 at the Royal College of Art in London. My dissertation focused on radical historiographical practices in the work of Lebanese artists of the postwar generation. 

I deliver practice-based teaching, research, and industry engagement in screen production. My work integrates technical expertise, creative practice, and knowledge exchange to support students, academics, and external partners in producing high-quality media outputs. I contribute to research-informed teaching, sustainable production practices, and collaborative projects that connect higher education with industry and community partners, reflecting UAL’s commitment to creativity as a driver of social, cultural, and economic impact.

I have a bachelor’s degree focused in Film and Television Production from University of Brighton, a master's degree in Broadcast Journalism from Birkbeck University of London and PGCert in Academic Practice from University of The Arts London.

Victoria Ahrens is the Course Leader for MA Photography at London College of Communication, a fine art photography course that teaches Expanded practices in photography looking at new technologies, historic process and wider lens based practices,  photobook publishing and photographic curating.

Victoria completed her Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded PhD in Photographic Practice and Theory at Birkbeck College, University of London in 2017, during which she explored notions of the embodied encounter with landscapes of trauma and memory. This meant creating photographs in the River Parana itself, a place where the aftermath of the dictatorship in Argentina was situated among forensic anthropologists, who looked for the DNA of the disappeared there. It is also the place where I grew up.

She has exhibited her work widely both in the UK and Internationally, with recent shows in Kunsthaus Vienna, with Reseau Lux-Paris Photo,  the TJ Boulting Gallery in London; Galerie Fleur in Kyoto, Japan; Hangzhou Academy of Art, China; Balzac’s Print Rooms in Paris and Studio Maragnone in Florence, Italy.

Victoria has won a number of prizes including the Clifford Chance Purchase Prize, the Printmaker’s Council Award, and the Celeste Photography Prize in 2013, and she was a finalist in the Glover/Rayner Sustainable Photography Prize in 2021.

I am a practice-based researcher, educator, and visual maker working at the intersection of photography and computational imaging. I am also Course Leader MA Photography and Digital Practice LCC UAL. My work explores how emerging imaging technologies, such as photogrammetry, LiDAR, augmented reality, and generative AI, reshape the production, perception, and circulation of images. I examine how sense-data captured through apparatuses such as cameras is encoded within computational systems, and how these processes shape engagement, governance, and visibility. My recent work focuses on conceptualisations used by big tech to frame generative AI systems, especially their invocation of contemporary and historical science-fiction narratives.

Saina is a Senior Lecturer and Course Leader for the MSc in Creative Robotics at the Creative Computing Institute, UAL. She received her PhD in Robotics from Imperial College London in 2019. Prior to her current academic role, Saina worked as a Design Systems Analyst at Foster + Partners, where she led the development of innovative AI and robotic technologies for architectural applications. She also worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Surgery and Cancer at the Hamlyn Centre, Imperial College London, focused on soft sensing and actuation.

Saina's research focuses on the integration of robotics and AI in real-world applications, emphasising human-in-the-loop design, digital twin technologies, and the co-design and co-evolution of robotic hardware and software. Her work spans a range of fields, including compliant and soft robotics, human-robot interaction, and innovative applications of robotics in architecture and design engineering. 

David Alamouti’s practice explores the use of co-creation and improvisational methods of filmmaking as a way of engaging communities and individuals with storytelling processes that move beyond the dynamics of representation. Working with real communities to reimagine stories inspired by the realities of their lives- and using methods around play and improvisation- David’s practice enables participants the safety (and distance) to better communicate their “stories”. This form of practice fundamentally rearticulates the often bureaucratic and hierarchical nature of traditional filmmaking into a social practice rooted in an ethics of interdependence, and an experimental process which foregrounds collaboration.

Between 2008-16, David co-founded the production company Contra Image, where he produced three feature documentaries and directed a further two, securing funds and grants from award-winning strands like Al Jazeera’s Witness, BBC, and the Wellcome Trust. These films were broadcast internationally as well as playing in competition at festivals like Krakow, London International Doc Fest, Jakarta, Big Sky, AM Docs, and Utah. The 2008 documentary Gilad and all that Jazz won the best documentary at the Utah Film Festival and opened the 2009 London international Doc Festival. In 2013 the documentary Boys with Broken Ears won awards for best film at FFD, Noor, Lake Champion International and played at Jakarta, AM Docs, Big Sky and Fajr. From 2016, David has focused on writing and directing fiction and more experimental work. In 2018 The Night the Wind Blew was nominated for three international awards at Palm Springs, and won best film at CYIFF in 2019. In 2021, David made La Rabbia- an experimental feature docu-fiction made through co-creation and improvisational filmmaking methods with locals and asylum seekers in a struggling and divided Italian village. The film premiered at La Salina Doc Festival in Sicily. He has just completed a co-created hybrid feature called Pulling Teeth, which explores life on the margins of one of Europe's largest "urban development" projects in London's Walworth Road. 


David’s teaching- as a senior lecturer in the Screen School- includes leading the BA Film Practice degree, and teaching predominantly fiction and documentary production specialising in directing, writing and producing. He has an interest in experimental documentary practice and in 2020 published an article in Transnational Cinemas exploring how transnational technologies calls for a new approach to documentary ethics.


More information is available at www.davidalamouti.com

Bethan is a teacher, researcher, and business leader with over 30 years’ experience in brand management, retailing, and marketing across higher education and the global fashion industry. She is a Reader in Fashion Retailing and Marketing, Interim Director of the Centre for Fashion Business and Research Lead at the Fashion Business School, London College of Fashion, leading the strategic development of research culture, interdisciplinary collaboration, and five Special Interest Groups within the Centre. 

Bethan’s research explores multi-sensory fashion retailing, customer experiences across digital and physical channels, innovative and responsible retail formats, and emerging retail technologies. Her work is widely published across fashion, marketing, and business disciplines. She is editor of Customer Experience in Fashion Retailing: Merging Theory and Practice (Routledge, 2024), and co-editor of the forthcoming book Shaping the Future of Fashion (Routledge, 2026). She also edits the Routledge book series Fashioning Futures, with the first volumes scheduled for publication in 2027.

Known for her academic leadership and commitment to pedagogic excellence, Bethan has led transformational curriculum development, fostered vibrant research communities, and built lasting collaborations with industry and academic partners around the world. She integrates her extensive industry background in brand strategy, business leadership, and people performance into her teaching and scholarship. A published author, mentor, and recognised thought leader, Bethan is dedicated to shaping the future of fashion retail education and practice through critical insight, creative leadership, and collaboration. She regularly presents at international academic and industry conferences and has held Visiting Professorships at Politecnico di Milano, Milan and IESM Fashion Business School, Madrid.

Bethan holds a PhD in Fashion Omnichannel Retailing and Customer Experience, M.Sc (Distinction) in International Fashion Marketing and Distribution, B.Sc (First class) in Fashion Management and PG Certificate in Teaching and Learning for Higher Education. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Regional Editor for Bloomsbury Fashion Business Cases, and an inaugural member of the Designing Retail and Services Futures Special Interest Group (Design Research Society).

Course leader of BSc Fashion Management at London College of Fashion, UAL since 2019.

Following 7 years at UCA as Senior Lecturer on BA Fashion Management and Marketing. I co-developed the MA Luxury Brand Management course at UCA business school. Previously worked within fashion buying for large companies such as Burberry, Harrods and ASOS. My buying roles entailed selecting the most exciting fashion trends for the customer, building strong relationships and negotiating with many luxury brands. Hold a BA Hons Fashion Management degree and an MA in Creative Arts Education. 

I am a PhD student applying psychology to fashion and I have a background in fashion design. My area of research is gender and sexuality in consumer culture through the lens of social cognition. I use theory and research in psychology to analyse attitudes in fashion in the hope to find a way to use it for promoting wellbeing both within the industry and for society at large.
 
I have over ten years’ experience in design management of high-end made-to-measure apparel in Mexico. I'm also a London College of Fashion alumnus where I studied the MSc Applied Psychology in Fashion. 

I have worked as a professor of fashion and french at a variety of institutions like Universidad de Monterrey and the Alliance Française, both in Mexico. I am experienced in academic writing and peer-review.

PhD | MSc | MA | BArch

Dr Amer Alwarea is Associate Dean for Knowledge Exchange and Enterprise at University of the Arts London (UAL), where he supports the development of strategies that link academic practice with external partners across industry, policy, and the public sector. His work focuses on fostering inclusive, place-based innovation and enhancing the role of the creative industries in regional development.

Amer’s experience spans research, knowledge exchange, and enterprise leadership across higher education and the creative economy. He has led cross-sector partnerships, supported creative R&D ecosystems, and contributed to the development of infrastructure for public engagement and cultural enterprise. His approach brings together research, policy, and practice to explore how the arts and design can inform social and economic transformation.

Before joining UAL, Amer held senior roles at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA), including Acting Director of Research & Innovation, where he led institutional planning for REF2021 and supported the development of research and impact frameworks across creative disciplines. He contributes to national research policy through advisory roles with UKRI’s Research Organisation Consultation Group and the Vitae Policy Advisory Group. He is also a Trustee of the Crafts Study Centre, supporting research-led approaches to contemporary craft and material culture.

Amer’s work includes international collaboration, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, where he has been involved in cultural heritage research, creative cluster development, and post-conflict reconstruction initiatives. He holds a PhD in Architecture and Planning from the University of Dundee. His research interests include creative economies, place leadership, and the civic role of the arts in shaping equitable and sustainable futures.

Claire Anderson holds an undergraduate degree in Textile Design from the Glasgow School of Art and a Master’s in Material Futures from Central Saint Martins. Her research, initiated during her MA, explores the application of biomimetic systems within textile design and has developed into interdisciplinary outputs including international exhibitions and conferences.

She is currently undertaking a practice-based PhD at the London College of Fashion under the supervision of Professor Veronika Kapsali and Dr Mingjing Lin. Her work investigates the relationship between colour and textiles, democratised textile technologies, and responsible textile and material futures.

Alongside her doctoral research, Claire is involved in collaborative projects. She is part of Material Programming, with Agnes Cameron and B. Claxton, which explores computational and material intersections within textile practice (Material Programming). She also collaborates with Barbara Mueller and The Rodina Studio on Carrier Bag Climate: Storytelling Tools for Textile Futures, a project exploring feminist storytelling as a method for responsible textile practice and research.

Claire is also a member of the UAL Active Materials Lab, a research network exploring responsive, dynamic, and sustainable material systems (Active Materials Lab)

Attila Andrási (HU) is a practice-based PhD researcher at University of the Arts London. His research explores minor gestures as a mode of expression for neurodivergent experiences in performance. He examines this through the lenses of Crip Theory, Critical Neurodivergent Philosophy, Postmodern Performance, and Deleuze and Guattari's concept of minor literature.

Attila graduated from the Budapest Contemporary Dance Academy in 2015 and the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD) in 2017. He also holds an MFA with distinction in Choreography from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance (2023), where he received a Leverhulme scholarship and the Dance Master Highest Achievement Prize in Choreography.

Attila has participated in artistic research residencies at Roca Umbert de les Arts (2020), Desembre en Dansa Festival (2019), and Lake Studio Berlin (2023). His work has been showcased at numerous venues, including Festival 10 Sentidos, Spain (2019); Desembre en Dansa Festival (2019); Old Fire Station, UK (2019); Sismógraf Festival, Spain (2020); Teatre Municipal de Lloret de Mar, Spain (2020); Resolution Festival, UK (2023); Lake Studio Berlin, Germany (2023); Chisenhale Dance Space, UK (2023); and Independent Creatives Night, UK (2024). His projects have received funding from the Hungarian National Dance Theatre (2021), the Hungarian National Cultural Fund (2020), and Arts Council England (2023).

Since 2017, Attila has conducted contemporary dance training, performance practice workshops, and labs across Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Engineering and Research in Creative AI and Signal Processing.

Practice focuses on design and engineering, adaptive systems and inference-based automation. Previously PhD from the University of Porto and INESC-TEC research centre. Participation in xCoAx (Italy, Germany), ICLI/WAC (Norway), ICCC (Portugal), VAF (Denmark), Artificial Creativity Conference (Sweden), EvoMUSART (Italy) and FILE festival (Brazil). In production has collaborated with entities such as Aardman Animations, Channel 4, Braga Media Arts UNESCO, Criatech, Openfield Creativelab, Decolonising Arts Institute (DeAI, UK), Serralves Museum, Charismatic.AI, Madeira Photography Museum, Supernova Ensemble and occasionally private studios.

LLM and Diffusion Engineering, AI Platform Design, Multi-Agent Architectures, AI Systems Development, Computing Networks for Entertainment, Lecturing on Computing, Design with AI.

Adjoa Armah is an artist, educator, writer and editor with a background in design anthropology. Her practice is concerned with the entanglement between art praxis, design thinking, narrative, the archival, pedagogy, black ontology, ethnology, spatial consciousness, and the political. She is founder of Saman Archive, a gathering of photographic negatives encountered across Ghana, through which she explores new models of institution building grounded in Akan temporalities and West African technologies of social and historical mediation. She is Editor and Research fellow at Afterall, where she is responsible for the Paul Mellon Centre-funded digital research project 'The Black Atlantic Museum' and the 'Afterall Art School' platform. Armah is also a practice-led DPhil researcher in Fine Art at Ruskin School of Art at the University of Oxford with a project provisionally titled; 'Meeting Saman: On Study with Narrative posture and -graphy in/as Archival Methodology'.

She has been published widely, including in Afterall, e-flux, Frieze, A Magazine Curated by, Apartamento, Vogue, MAP Magazine, Boy.Brother.Friend, and TSA Art Magazine. She has taught across art, curating, design, spatial practices, and writing at institutions including Ruskin School of Art, Central Saint Martins, University of Westminster, Royal College of Art, and HEAD, Geneva University of Art and Design. Armah holds an MA in Material Anthropology and Design from University College London.