Dr Esther Teichmann Appointed Head of Programme MRes RCA

Dr Esther Teichmann will lead on developing the academic philosophy and vision for the MRes RCA Programme and CHS provision. Both the MRes and CHS programmes have at their core the need to develop robust and creative methods for approaching postgraduate art and design study within a contemporary context, which recognises rich histories while remaining able to adapt and change.

Discussing this appointment, Head of Research Programmes Dr Catherine Dormor said: ‘We are delighted that Dr Esther Teichmann is joining the RCA in this role. Her research and teaching experience will be a great asset in providing academic leadership for the MRes and CHS programmes, which embed creative, innovative and investigative research at the centre of art and design education.’

In this role Dr Teichmann will lead the College’s interdisciplinary MRes RCA programme, which launched in September 2016 with an international cohort of students. The one-year, full-time programme equips early-career research students with the intellectual, technical and professional tools with which to complete a high-quality research project, whether at doctoral level, within the cultural or creative sectors, or beyond.

Dr Teichmann will also coordinate Critical & Historical Studies (CHS), a cross-College unit delivered centrally to all MA students. CHS provides a rigorous grounding for MA students in theoretical, historical and critical approaches to art and design, reflecting the College’s focus on the highest-quality art and design practice situated in a cross-disciplinary academic context.

Discussing her appointment to this new role Dr Teichmann said: ‘I’m very excited to join the RCA in this capacity and contribute towards developing a rich programme that places research at the centre of interdisciplinary art and design education and positions intellectual thinking and self-expression as core to innovative practice.’

Prior to joining the RCA, Dr Teichmann was Senior Lecturer in Photography at the University of the Arts London, Guest Professor at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco and visiting tutor in Critical & Historical Studies at the RCA. Her practice as an artist and writer engages the photographic across still and moving image and considers the relationships between loss, desire and the imaginary. She received both her MA and PhD from the RCA.

Dr Teichmann’s recent exhibitions include Mondschwimmen at Zephyr/REM, Mannheim, Heavy the Sea at Transformer Station, Cleveland and La Movida at HOME in Manchester. Her forthcoming monograph of visual works and writing, Fulmine, will be published by Stanley/Barker in 2018. Recent collaborations include working with composer Deirdre Gribbin, writer Carol Mavor and artist Marvin Gaye Chetwynd. Her curatorial research projects include Staging Disorder co-edited and co-curated with artist Christopher Stewart.