Illustration & Food

Since 2016, the Illustration School, based in Porto (Portugal), aims to investigate the expanded role of the illustrator as researcher, editor, publisher and working across media. The Summer 2019 edition, from the 14–20 July under the title RAW, focuses on the relation between illustration and food, exploring a variety of approaches to illustration and the construction of visual narratives via architecture, printing, recipes and publishing. Through a series of workshops and food-related field trips and talks in an immersive week, this school will expose multiple ways in which different disciplines inform each other and contribute towards the development of the practice of illustration.
The course will seek to build upon its previous iterations, traveling through the city and exploring various partnerships depending on the focus of the object of research. This edition will use the word ‘RAW’ as a starting point to provide a diverse range of readings and processes related to this school’s central element: food. It will specifically explore the idea of ‘unprocessed’, ‘uncooked’ and elements in their natural state to establish a series of connections to the practice of illustration and its current state through intersections with architecture, archives, photography and printing.
The course puts particular emphasis on the importance of collective learning and research. Therefore, participants will be working as a group as co-researchers, producing a collective publication at the end of the school, and documenting all the process of the week, as well as the tools and methods used.

Course leader

Coordinator & Tutor
Karen Lacroix (Shared Institute)

Target group

Audience: This course—and the school—is traditionally open and encouraging the participation of artists, designers and illustrators at both BA, MA and PhD levels. The groups are diverse, often with complementary backgrounds and specialities, and the tutors aim to adapt to the participants’ different academic levels and interests.

Course aim

The course puts particular emphasis on the importance of collective learning and research. Therefore, participants will be working as a group as co-researchers, producing a collective publication at the end of the school, and documenting all the process of the week, as well as the tools and methods used.

Credits info

Accreditation: This course is not credited nor validated by an academic institution. It exists in the series of seminars provided by the research platform Illustration School, under the umbrella of the design research centre Shared Institute.

Fee info

EUR 615: Fee includes tuition, welcome drinks, all materials, one printed collective publication per participant, workspace, workshops, lectures, and guided tours. It doesn’t include accommodation, travel (flights) to and from the course, and daily meals. The payment can be done via banktransfer or Paypal.