IDW is the annual International Design Workshop week for master students of the Faculty of Design Sciences of the University of Antwerp (architecture, interior architecture, product development, heritage studies, urbanism and spatial planning), as well as for master students of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of the AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts Antwerp.
LAST CALL
The final edition of IDW is not a conclusion, but a moment of intensified attention to the role of art and design in times of transition. The LAST CALL is not just an ending, it’s a call to gather, to contribute, to make. As a final gathering, the LAST CALL is also a space to consider legacy and heritage. Not as something fixed, but as something continuously reshaped through practice. What traces do artists and designers leave behind? What forms, systems, or imaginaries persist?
Rather than offering conclusions, this edition embraces the unfinished. It positions art and design as open-ended acts, capable of responding, resisting, and projecting beyond the limits of the present moment.
CRITICAL DESIGN ATTITUDE
IDW invites participants to approach design critically: not as problem-solving, but rather as problem-finding. The week creates space to question assumptions, investigate contexts, and explore the possible impacts of design decisions. Through speculative, experimental, and socially engaged approaches, workshops can open alternative scenarios and imagine more responsible, sustainable, and desirable futures.
The workshop week welcomes radical pedagogical experiences that broaden thinking, foster new encounters, and stimulate international and interdisciplinary exchange around design education and its agency.
WHAT WE LOOK FOR
We invite interdisciplinary workshop proposals that bring together students across departments, fostering exchanges between diverse practices, perspectives, and forms of knowledge.
We invite interdisciplinary tutor duos to guide a group of master students through a week-long critical art and design adventure. During IDW, students are free from other courses and fully dedicated to their workshop. Tutors are expected to share this commitment and be present throughout the full working days from Monday to Friday.
WHAT WE OFFER
- An interdisciplinary group of approximately 20 master students from six departments: visual arts, product development, architecture, interior architecture, urbanism and spatial planning, and heritage studies.
- A workshop budget of 15 euro / student.
- Hotel accommodation from Sunday 07 February until Saturday 13 February 2027.
- A welcome dinner on Sunday 07 February and a closing dinner on Friday 12 February.
- A total lump sum of 800 euro per tutor duo to cover fee, costs of transport and other expenses during your stay.
- The company of a group of marvellous fellow tutors.
SUBMISSION
By 15 September 2026 a workshop proposal is submitted through this link.
This submission contains:
- The title of the proposed workshop
- A clear description of the topic and workshop, including sections outlining its connection to the theme, your pedagogical approach, and the integration of interdisciplinarity (max. 2000 characters, including spaces)
- Three images, representative for the topic / your approach / your work
- A short biography highlighting your interdisciplinary background and prior workshop experience (max. 800 characters, including spaces)
- A picture of yourself
ENQUIRIES
For any enquiries about submission, content organization and practicalities of the workshop, please email IDW@uantwerpen.be.
ORGANIZATION
Deans: Prof. dr. Inge Bertels & Nedda El-Asmar
Curatorial board: Marleen Goethals (urbanism and spatial planning), Jo Meers (architecture), Femke Van Dycke (architecture), Yonca Erkan (heritage studies), Inge Somers (interior architecture), Kristof Vaes (product development), Evie Gryson (visual arts), Wouter Van der Hallen (visual arts)
Administrative support: Nele Simons, Evelien Van Akeren
Communication: Nele Simons, Evelien Van Akeren