Since the start of the 2024–2025 academic year, the two institutions have been co-developing an innovative interdisciplinary programme that explores how creative practices can engage with global political challenges.

Master-Level Course: Visualizing International Relations

Co-taught by Federica Martini (HEAD), Ruxandra Stoicescu, and Nataliya Tchermalykh (Geneva Graduate Institute), this course offers a fresh perspective on the intersection of aesthetics and geopolitics. Open to students from the MA in Visual Arts (HEAD) and the MA in International Affairs (Geneva Graduate Institute), the course has explored artistic solidarity networks, the history of art donations to international organisations, and the political dimensions of spatial practices in art. The programme featured guest speakers including Julie Billaud, Guerreiro do Divino Amor, Maria Lanko, Grégoire Mallard, Nayansaku Mufwankolo, and Davide Rodogno.

Two Interdisciplinary Workshops

Filming Democracy: New Political Broadcasts in the Age of Social Media

Led by Anthony Masure and Thibéry Maillard, and linked to the Play-to-Learn research project, this workshop explored new forms of political communication. In just two days, students produced smartphone-ready videos that combined political messaging with aesthetics inspired by video games—merging entertainment with civic discourse.

Textile as a Political Tool

Conducted by Elizabeth Fischer and Magdalena Gerber, this workshop examined the subversive power of textiles in social movements. Students created activist banners while exploring the political history of thread, embroidery, and sewing as tools of resistance. Materials were sourced from Histoire sans chute, a circular haberdashery in Geneva, emphasising sustainability and symbolic meaning.

This partnership reflects a shared commitment to interdisciplinary education that responds to the urgent challenges of our time—bridging creative practice and global policy in bold and meaningful ways.