Gerrit Rietveld Academie

RIETVELD REVIEW(ED)

Rietveld Review(ed) is part of the public programme of the Rietveld Academie’s Graduation Show. We are happy to now present the sixth edition.

An independent external committee was asked to reflect on the 2026 Graduation Show as a whole and to identify current tendencies and themes within the exhibition. The committee was also asked to consider the presentations of the various departments, selecting a number of projects by graduates that exemplify their observations. A broad range of topics was discussed in the meetings, and the Rietveld Academie has included a selection of these reflections and observations in a reflection report.

This year’s independent external committee, consisted of Abdo Zin Eldin, Amy Suo Wu and Maia Kenney.

👀 The report is available online via the link in bio or you can grab your free printed copy of the report at the entrances of the three buildings.

MEET THE GRADUATES

The Rietveld Academie Graduation Show 2026 (1-5 July) is approaching! We would like to introduce you to some of the graduates.

Refia Dermancıoğlu - - Image & Language

𝟭. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻?
I’ve been working on my film Var ama Yok. It’s a speculative film made at Burj Al Babas in Mudurnu, Turkey. An unfinished luxury development of 732 identical castles, now prohibited to enter. Absurdly placed next to a traditional Turkish town, I couldn’t stop thinking about what this place could become. I travelled there and staged a fictional opening ceremony and asked locals what they would do with it if it were theirs. The film holds the tension between imagination and reality, between ambition and failure.

𝟮. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽(𝘀) 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁?
The combination of AVS, editing and sound studios for the film. For the installation, the metal workshop played a big role. With all the people that cares for creating something. 

𝟯. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸?
I hope visitors feel that believing in something ‘unrealistic’ isn’t about the dream becoming real, it’s about the journey that belief creates and who gets to decide what a failed dream becomes next.

𝟰. 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄?
You can find my work in FedLev 101. It will be screening inside a circular black curtain. The film is 25 minutes long and will be on loop.