From May 15th to 17th, the Cumulus Association Conference was successfully held in Budapest, Hungary. At the meeting, the Division of Arts at Shenzhen University was unanimously voted and officially became a member organization of the Association.
The theme of this conference is "Preferences of Design," aiming to explore the turning point and future trends of design and design education under multiple challenges, in collaboration with global designers and design educators. The conference includes a series of keynote speeches, parallel session paper presentations, workshops, association working group sessions, as well as other exhibitions and exchange activities. It has attracted over five hundred delegates and guests from renowned institutions worldwide, such as Politecnico di Milano, Royal College of Art, Tsinghua University, China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Tongji University, and Jiangnan University.
During the conference, Professor Luo Ying, Vice Dean of the School of Fine Arts and Design of Division of Arts, Dr. Han Han, professional teacher and Deputy Director of the Internationalization Action Group of the School of Fine Arts and Design of Division of Arts, and Dr. Fu Fang, represented Division of Arts at Shenzhen University as a new member organization applying to join the Association. At the New Members Fair hosted at the conference, they introduced the distinctive features and development direction of the Division of Arts at Shenzhen University to the Association executive committee, global member organization representatives, and newly admitted member organizations, initiating comprehensive dialogues and exchanges with art and design schools and organizations worldwide.
Scene at the New Members Fair
Representatives from the Division of Arts engaging with Professor Gong Miaosen, a member of the Cumulus Association Executive Committee, at the New Members Fair
On the following day, at the Cumulus General Assembly (GA), the Division of Arts at Shenzhen University was officially granted membership status by unanimous vote of all delegates, marking its first participation in the General Assembly of Members. They listened to the annual work report of the Executive Committee and engaged in discussions on a series of association proposals.
General Assembly of the Cumulus
Report of the Association Committee
The Cumulus, International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design, and Media, is the largest and most influential academic organization in the field of international art and design education. Founded in 1990 by leading institutions such as Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Royal College of Art, Design School Kolding, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, and Eindhoven University of Technology, Cumulus is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence and innovation in the arts and design. After more than thirty years of development, the Association has brought together nearly 400 higher education institutions in the arts and design fields from 70 countries, continuously promoting cooperation and knowledge exchange in teaching, research, and practice.
Professor Lorenzo Imbesi, the Chairman of the Association, and Professor Eija Salmi, the Secretary-General, congratulated the Division of Arts of Shenzhen University on becoming a new member during the conference
The inclusion in the CUMULUS is a significant move for the Division of Arts in its high-level internationalization efforts. In the future, faculty and students of the Division of Arts will actively participate in various association activities, including international academic conferences, workshops, exhibitions, and student exchange programs. Leveraging the association network, they will engage with top designers, educators, and scholars worldwide to explore cutting-edge issues in design and design education, share practices and innovations, and promote academic cooperation and project collaboration.CUMULUS is organizing a series of global cooperative projects to bring more cross-cultural, interdisciplinary, and cross-disciplinary dynamics to the world of design education. This includes biannual academic conferences, ongoing recruitments, and a continuous rollout of multiple series of projects in the future, such as Cumulus Monterrey 2024 (the Monterrey Academic Conference in Mexico, with a submission deadline of June 2, 2024), Cumulus Green 2024, Cumulus Student Talent Camp 2024, and others. As official members of the Association, faculty and students of our university (division) will have priority access to various benefits of participating in international design conferences, competitions, and exchange projects. For more details, please visit the Association's official website: https://cumulusassociation.org/
This successful inclusion in theCumulus not only opens new doors for international exchanges for the Division of Arts of Shenzhen University, but also provides abundant resources and a broader platform for future academic cooperation, project collaboration, and faculty-student exchanges.
Division of Arts, Shenzhen University
May 26, 2024
