Key details
Date
- 20 November 2018
Read time
- 2 minutes
Making his first visit to the world’s number one art and design university, the Royal College of Art (RCA), since taking up the role of Royal Visitor in May this year, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales met ceramics, glass and print students, staff and start-up innovators on a tour of the Battersea campus on Tuesday 20 November.
Key details
Date
- 20 November 2018
Read time
- 2 minutes
Dr Paul Thompson, Vice-Chancellor of the RCA said: ‘It was a great honour for us to welcome His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales on his first visit as Royal Visitor and show him the variety of arts, crafts and innovations that are developed in our studios and workshops. His passion for the traditional making skills, training and educational opportunities for young people are well documented, and it was a wonderful opportunity for us to demonstrate how we are leading the way in design globally, and embracing new areas of research and innovation.’
The Prince of Wales met students, technicians and staff as he toured the Ceramics & Glass workshops and studios. He saw different types of printing presses in the Wolfson Printmaking Hall including the ‘Hockney Press’, dating from 1851 and used in the Great Exhibition, on which alumnus David Hockney famously created his A Rake’s Progress etchings in 1961, initially as he had run out of money and was unable to afford to buy paint.
As part of the visit, The Prince of Wales participated in a demonstration of the ‘Hockney Press’, officially known as the John Haddon Etching Press, where he turned the wheel to produce an aquatint. The featured design was a drawing of the press, printed on the press itself by alumna Kristina Chan (MA Print, 2016) to mark the occasion of HRH’s 70th birthday and his first visit to the RCA.
Pioneering projects from InnovationRCA (the RCA's centre for enterprise, entrepreneurship and incubation) were also displayed and showcased the breadth of research, knowledge exchange, innovation and entrepreneurship at the College. The centre helps students and graduates transform their ideas into successful businesses such as ‘Zelp’, a device that reduces the environmental impact of methane emission caused by the livestock industry and ‘Olombria’, an agricultural technology company that enhances pollination by encouraging flies to become pollinators.
The RCA is at a significant time in its history, taking advantage of new opportunities to expand its facilities in Battersea with a state-of-the-art building, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, which will house new workshop and studio spaces, research and knowledge exchange centres. Building on its reputation for cross-disciplinarity, it is integrating science, technology, engineering and mathematics into the curriculum to lead the way as a fully embracing, STEAM-focused university. The STEAM agenda places critical value on the catalysing power of the creative arts (A) alongside science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
The Prince of Wales succeeds his father, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, who was Royal Visitor for 50 years from 1967, the year the Royal Charter was granted by Her Majesty The Queen.
For further information or images please contact the RCA Communications Office:
T: 020 7590 4114
E: media@rca.ac.uk
Notes to Editors
About the RCA
Engaging in teaching and research, the Royal College of Art was named the world’s leading university of art and design in the prestigious QS World University Subject Rankings 2018 for the fourth consecutive year. It offers a Graduate Diploma in art and design and the postgraduate degrees of MA, MRes, MPhil and PhD, as well as short courses, across the disciplines of applied art, architecture, fine art, design, communications and humanities.
It offers 28 highly specialised programmes in art and design to over 2,000 Master’s and Doctoral students and more than 800 professionals interacting with them – including researchers, professors, art and design practitioners, along with advisers and distinguished visitors.
About InnovationRCA
InnovationRCA is the Royal College of Art’s centre for enterprise, entrepreneurship, incubation and business support. It helps students, staff and graduates transform compelling ideas into successful businesses and aims to strengthen the culture of design innovation at the RCA. It has launched more than 50 businesses since it began in 2005.