Key details
Date
- 8 January 2024
Author
- RCA
Read time
- 4 minutes
Dr. Kamini Vellodi joins the RCA as the new Head of Programme, Painting in the School of Arts and Humanities and Dr. Samantha Moore, Senior Tutor (Research) in the School of Communication will take up the role of Head of Programme, Animation.
Key details
Date
- 8 January 2024
Author
- RCA
Read time
- 4 minutes
Dr. Kamini Vellodi - Head of Programme, Painting
Dr Kamini Vellodi joins the RCA from Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh, where she is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Theory and History of Art, and Director of Research. An alumnus of the RCA Painting programme, she completed her PhD in Philosophy from the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy, Middlesex University, in 2012.
Kamini researches and publishes extensively in the fields of modern and contemporary European philosophy and critical theory, philosophies of art, theories and critical historiographies of art history, contemporary visual arts and theories of the image. Recent books include Tintoretto’s Difference. Deleuze, Diagrammatics and Art History (Bloomsbury, 2019), and Grey on Grey. At the Threshold of Philosophy and Art (Edinburgh University Press 2023), and she is Series Editor of Refractions. At the Borders of Art History and Philosophy (Edinburgh University Press). She has held senior academic roles and taught widely across departments of fine art practice, art history, visual culture and philosophy, nationally and internationally, and has been a visiting fellow/faculty at universities around the world including the University of California at Berkeley and Parsons School of Design.
Her work across teaching, research and leadership brings together a commitment to the interfaces of theory, history, and practice, to painting as a mode of thinking and to nurturing practice research cultures.
“I look forward to welcoming Kamini to the RCA as our new Head of Programme for Painting. Her extensive experience and interdisciplinary approach is an excellent fit for Painting, an internationally renowned studio-based Master’s programme with a reputation for producing artists working at the forefront of the discipline.”
RCA Deputy Vice-Chancellor
“I am delighted that Kamini will join the RCA in 2024. Her expertise across both teaching and research will be an asset to our inspiring students on our renowned Painting programme, and an excellent addition to the team in the School as well. I would also like to warmly thank John Slyce, John Strutton, Pamela Golden, and Hardeep Virdee for looking after the Programme so ably in the interim.”
Dean of School of Arts and Humanities
“It is a privilege to take up the headship of a programme that was so formative for my own career, and at a time when painting is enjoying prominence on the global stage. From the recent ascendency of figuration in transnational contexts to its embrace of new technologies, painting today is forging exciting directions that testify to its enduring potential to capture vital dimensions of human experience. I am greatly looking forward to working with the talented staff and students of this esteemed programme to maximise these opportunities and continue to produce artists and thinkers of the very highest calibre. I will look to drive an ambitious research culture that affirms painting’s place alongside the other arts and humanities as a significant contributor to contemporary culture and discourse.”
Head of Programme, Painting
Dr. Samantha Moore - Head of Programme, Animation
Formerly Senior Tutor (Research) in Animation at the Royal College of Art since 2021, Samantha is an animator and researcher with an interest in documentary, science, and practice as research.
Samantha’s research and practice use animation to document the invisible, particularly in scientific arenas. Samantha's PhD explored how animation can document perceptual brain states, with a collaboratively ethnographic methodology.
Cross-disciplinary collaborative practice is vital to her work, and she has worked with a diverse cohort of peers including micro-biologists, neuro-psychologists, multiple birth medical professionals, textile artisans, and archaeologists. Samantha is passionate about the correlation between practice and research in animation with an interest in all aspects of expanded animation, from cinema-based features and independent short films, through music videos, to interstitials, installation work, VR/AR, games, medical imaging and data visualisation. Samantha directed the short animated documentary ‘Visible Mending’ about emotional repair through wool, which has been longlisted for the British Short Animation award for the 2024 EE BAFTA Film Awards.
In addition to her role at the RCA, she is an Associate Professor in Animation at University College Volda, Norway, and co-editor of Animation Practice, Process & Production, Intellect Press Journal, with Dr Miriam Harris (Auckland University of Technology).
“I’m delighted to see Samantha take up the leadership role in our esteemed Animation programme as we continue to broaden its appeal and range, particularly with flexible delivery, and partnerships with industry. Since 2021, she has made an important contribution to the School of Communication and her commitment, expertise and collaborative approach will continue to be an asset to both the Animation programme and the RCA more widely.”
RCA Deputy Vice-Chancellor
“Sam is an important member of the team in our School and I’m very pleased that she’ll be taking up the Head of Programme role in Animation as we continue to deliver this world-leading MA programme. I look forward to working with Sam in her new leadership role to support our students’ learning and continue to be responsive to emergent developments in the field.”
Dean of School of Communication
“I am delighted to lead RCA Animation, after having worked as Senior Tutor on the programme with Professor Suzanne Buchan for two years. I look forward to consolidating development in this vibrant and exciting form, where the only constant is interdisciplinary curiosity, and the wide ranging nature and impact of the animated outcome. Animation may provide singular perspectives but it is essentially collaborative. Together with an amazing team of internationally recognised and artistically engaged staff - tutors, technicians and guest speakers - I want to create an inclusive and diverse educational space where students can transform their research-led studio based practice.”
Head of Programme, Animation
“Dr. Vellodi and Dr. Moore are outstanding appointments to important roles in our Painting and Animation programmes and I’m looking forward to their contribution to both our students and our academic faculty which bring world-leading expertise and industry knowledge to a research driven and tutorial-based model of teaching.”
RCA Vice-Chancellor