Graduation Show 2026
Decisions outlive the rooms they were made in. They persist in materials, infrastructures and habits, shaping lives long after their origins have slipped from view. Many projects in this year’s Graduation Show work their way into these inheritances, tracing material residue, extractive systems and norms that continue to exert their hold. Through objects, sound, film, performance and interactive systems, graduates bring these histories into the present and take up the question of responsibility for what is still unfolding.
Two entrance galleries introduce BA and MA work, opening thematic pathways that extend across the location, connecting projects through proximity and contrast. Around the Hub, projects make gathering and participation part of the work, while small project rooms allow individual works to establish worlds of their own. The first-floor gallery houses MA projects; the main BA exhibition moves to the second floor. Below ground, film, objects, sound and interactive installations occupy a shared central space and intimate side galleries.
The Arena returns after several years away, in an intimate format supporting programmed discussions, student-led workshops and unscripted exchanges. Beside it, the enlarged Bookshop brings publications, projects and readings into the conversation. This renewed emphasis on gathering echoes a return to relation as a source of resilience in the work itself. Visitors are invited to spend time with a material or a history, participate in a work, or bring their own position into a conversation. Through these encounters, graduates explore what relationships ask of them and work out their own positions: what they take responsibility for, where their skills have purpose, and what role design can play.
The show will also present the Award Ceremony for the annual Gijs Bakker, René Smeets and Melkweg Awards. The nominees have been selected during the assessment of the Master and Bachelor graduation projects by a jury of experts who convened at Design Academy Eindhoven in June and July.
The winners will receive a sum of € 2,000 and a trophy designed by DAE alumna Clara Schweers and produced in collaboration with MAKE Eindhoven.
DAE Thanks its partners for their support on GS26:
