Experiential Knowledge Special Interest Group Conference (EKSIG Conference)*
No warranty for correctness & completeness!
This site will be updated with no ads and linked to its KMedu opportunities
as soon as the provider subscribes to this service!
(sample pages: training, university, community, conference)
The biennial Experiential Knowledge Special Interest Group Conference (EKSIG Conference), organized by the Design Research Society’s Special Interest Group on Experiential Knowledge, initially the International Conference on Experiential Knowledge (EKC), organized by members of the Experiential Knowledge Project of the University of Hertfordshire, Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries, aims to provide a forum for debate about the multi faceted, multi sensory and multi modal possibilities of communicating knowledge in the creative disciplines.
Conference History:
EKSIG Conference 2025, 11-13 May 2025, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest, Hungary
Conference Theme: Data as Experiential Knowledge and Embodied Processes
(Host: Innovation Center, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design)
-
Conference program TBD
Topics of Interest:
What constitutes making when designing with data at various scales?
How do the cultural, social and contextual influences of data affect design processes?
How might engaging with data shift our understandings of space?
What role does data play in speculation?
Are data and material practices antithetical?
At what points in the design process does data provide inspiration?
How can data take the form of new materialities?
EKSIG Conference 2023, 19-20 June 2023, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
Conference Theme: From Abstractness to Concreteness – experiential knowledge and the role of prototypes in design research
(Host: Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano)
Note: The regular 2021 EKSIG Conference was cancelled.
Keynotes: (3)
Titles n.a.
Conference Tracks:
Interaction, Data and AI
Service Design and Policy making
Research processes and methods
Sustainable and Biological solutions
Materials and Crafts
Sustainable and Biological solutions
Materials and Digital
Education processes and methods
Mobility and Transportation
Fiction and Speculation
EKSIG Conference 2019, 23–24 September 2019, Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn, Estonia
Conference Theme: Knowing together, experiential knowledge and collaboration
(Host: Estonian Academy of Arts)
-
Keynotes:
Embodied and Empathic Knowledge – intuiting experience and life in architecture, Juhani Pallasmaa
Things We Could Design – a posthuman exploration
Strand 1: Handmade and Digital Crafts in Collaboration
Deciphering the Craft of the Laser Cutter
From Personal to Ultra-Personalized
A Visual Programming Interface as the Common Platform for Sharing Embodied Knowledge
Strand 2: Making as Action of Change
Collaborative Ecologies through Material Entanglements
“Poke it with a Stick”, Using Autoethnography in Research through Design
Improvisation: Autonomy, Heteronomy and Wilful Naïveté
Strand 3: Collaboration towards Sustainability
Redirecting Textile Knowledge; An Innovative Approach to Recycling
Interdisciplinary Collaboration as a Framework for Creating Future Materials: Hacking Silk Case Study
MYCELIUM Exploring the New, Alternative Fungal Hyphae-Based Material’s Potentials
Sustainability Principles through Educational E-Textile Kit
Strand 4: Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration
An Interactive Playmat to Support Bonding between Parents and Young Children with Visual (and Intellectual) Disabilities
Magic Lining: Crafting Multidisciplinary Experiential Knowledge by Changing Wearer’s Body-Perception through Vibrotactile Clothing
Sharing heritage restoration expertise: The UNESCO Creative Cities Network as opportunity of creative development for Kuldīga
Strand 5: Collaboration and Knowledge Transfer
BeWeDō® Kenkyukai: Small Moves Can Set Big Ideas in Motion
Knowing Together in Correspondence: The Meal as a Stage for Bildung
When Art meets Science: Conditions for Experiential Knowledge Exchange in Interdisciplinary Research on New Materials
Towards Actionable Forms of Communicating and Sharing Design Knowledge
Showcases & Demos
EKSIG Conference 2017, 19-20 June 2017, Delft University of Technology, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Conference Theme: Alive. Active. Adaptive.
(Host: Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology)
-
Keynotes:
Self-repairing cities
Hedonic design
Growing Fungal Futures
PLENARY SESSIONS
Alive. Active. Adaptive:
‘Grow-Made’ Textiles
Interlacing Surfaces: Relating Tim Ingold’s Understanding of Material with Material in Interface and Interaction Design
Experience Prototyping Smart Material Composites
PARALLEL SESSIONS
Living Materials:
Tinkering with Mycelium. A case study.
In-between of Two and Three Dimensions: Development of Fashion Pattern Cutting for Bio-fabric
Transforming textile expressions by using plants to integrate growth, wilderness and decay into textile structures for interior
Growing materials for product design
Revived Materials:
The Plastic Bakery: A Case of Material Driven Design
Design from Recycling
Upcycling Reclaimed Wood, a Preliminary Analysis
Exploring new material characteristics by combining textile waste with biobased plastics
Material Design Tools:
Tangible opportunities: Designing material studies and toolkits for school-aged children
A new approach to materials in Product Design education – A shift from technical properties towards sensorial characteristics
Sustainable materials in design projects
Five Kingdoms of DIY Materials for Design
Developing Future Wearable Concepts using Archival Research and E-textiles
Textile Choreographies: Bridging Physical and Digital Domains in the Context of Architectural Design Radically Relational: Using Textiles as a Platform to
Develop Methods for Embodied Design Processes
Phenomenal Materials:
Air and Mimetics: Making Form, Playing Form and Form in Motion
An experimental approach for the inclusion of the experiential aspects of lighting through the design process of atmospheric luminaires
Synthetic. Reflective. Mnemonic speculations on the materiality of the hybrid real
Responsive Materials:
On the Surface of Things: Experiential Properties of the Use of Craft Materials on Interactive Artefacts
Uncovering Digital Craft Methods in the Design of Enhanced Objects and Surfaces
Signals as Material: From Knitting Sensors to Sensory Knits
Smart thermoregulating garments
EKSIG Conference 2015, 25-26 November 2015, Design School Kolding & University of Southern Denmark, Kolding, Denmark
Conference Theme: Tangible Means – experiential knowledge through materials
(Host: Design School Kolding; Department of Entrepreneurship and Relationship Management, University of Southern Denmark)
- Keynotes:
The socio-materiality of Creativity
Design For Material Experiences
Harvested and Grown: the rise of a new bio-materiality
Plenary Sessions:
MEANS
Crafting Material Innovation
Temporal Patterns: New Forms of Material Thinking in Textile Design
Viewing Fashion: A Digital Materiality of the Moving Image
OXYMORONS
Processes of Artefact Creation in the Hybrid-Reality Engaging with Materials through Material Oxymorons
Service Prototyping and Organizational Transformation: Playing with the Potential Problems and Solutions
Illuminativa: The Resonance of the Unseen
Parallel Sessions:
TOUCH
Why Making Matters: An Exploration of Neurobiological Perspectives on Woodcarving
Materials in footwear: an empirical study of hands-on textile approaches to sandal design
Context Construction through Material Perceptions: Experiences from an Explorative Workshop
Epistemic Mutations: Material Object Engagement in Exhibition Making
ELEMENTS
Designing with an Underdeveloped Computational Composite for Materials Experience
Open Structures: Designing 3D Printed Alterable Textiles
How to Visually Represent the Colour Theory of Thermochromic Inks
Alabaster Chambers: Sacred Folds
HANDS-ON
Kindness as a Collective Wish to Co-Design with Communities using Physical Installation
The Role of Doing and Making Models with Materials: Outlining “Designerly and Human-centred Entrepreneurship”
Toy Trucks in Video Analysis
MATERIALS
Counterculture, Ju-jitsu and Emancipation of Wood
Materials Driven Architectural Design and Representation
Material Knowledge: Unlocking the Research Potential of the ‘Micro’ Architectural Practice
BUILDING
Digital Crafting in the Field of Ceramics
A Framework for Materials Knowledge Acquisition for Designers
MADEC: Exploring New Methodologies to Transfer Material Knowledge into Design Disciplines
Making sense of dress: On Sensory Perspectives of Wardrobe Research
PATINA
Materia Prima: The Rough Guide
Choreography of Surface Materiality from Nature, Culture, and Time
Exploring the Relationship Between Material and Textile Structure in Creating Changing Textile Expressions
Materials, Time and Emotion: How Materials Change in Time?
EKSIG Conference 2013, 4-5 July 2013, Loughborough University, UK
Conference Theme: Knowing Inside Out – experiential knowledge, expertise and connoisseurship
(Host: School of The Arts, Loughborough University)
-
Keynotes:
Skill and the next phase of Modernity
Looking in the right place: What the study of the micro-structures of design activities tells us about design expertise and collaboration skills
Connoisseurship and the Design of Contemporary Educational Media
Strand 1: Expert’s Embodied Knowledge
Designerly Ways of Knowing and Doing: Design Embodiment and Experiential Design Knowledge
Transferring Disability Experience to Design Practice
Matrixiating Knowledge
Strand 2: Understanding & Articulating Experience
Bringing Action into View: Provocation and Ambiguity in Touch and Talk Sessions
DnA: Design and Art Research Methodologies – Understanding the Way We Work
Drawn Threads: Drawing as a Visual Methodology to Enhance Qualitative Studies
Strand 3: Objects, Expertise and Connoisseurship
Aesthetic Experience and Design Expertise
Developing Expertise and Connoisseurship through Handling Objects of ‘Good Design’: the Example of the I.L.E.A./Camberwell Collection
Design History, Connoisseurship and Sustainability: Object Lessons and Collecting as Learning Tools for Designers
Strand 4: Performativity & Research Process
Generating Space to Articulate the Value of an Artists’ Practice
Accessing Experiential Knowledge through Dance-Writing
Participatory Art Based Research as a Tool to Restructure Notions of Participating Second Generation Immigrant Youth
Strand 5: Nature of Experiential Knowledge
The Interplay between Experiential and Theoretical Knowledge in Service design
Making the Tacit Explicit: Developing Tools to Support Collaboration During Industrial Design and Engineering Design Practice
An Investigation of Spatially Fluid Knowledge within the Retail System
Knowing: Inside/Insider Knowledge, Outside/Outsider Knowledge
Strand 6: Design Expertise
The Expertness of Accounts of Typeface Design: Locating the Emic and Etic
Rendering the Tacit Observable in the Learning Process of a Changing Body
Crafting Expertise
Metaphors in Design: An Analysis of How We Represent Design Expertise
Strand 7: Contemporary Connoisseurship
Connoisseurship as a Substitute for User Research? The Case of the Swiss Watch Industry
Controversy and Debate within Social Media: Can Museums Improve 21st Century Democracy?
Improving Brand Recognition through Sensory Design: A Case Study of H&M
Strand 8: Experiential Knowledge & Education
Experiences on Developing Intuitive Thinking among University-Level Teachers
Developing Intuitive Thinking in Designers: Creative Process and Criticism in Tertiary Foundation Studies
Global Creativity: Intercultural ‘Hands-On’ Workshops for Pre-Service Primary Art Teachers
EKSIG Conference 2011, 23-24 June 2011, University for the Creative Arts, Farnham Castle, UK
Conference Theme: SkinDeep – experiential knowledge and multi sensory communication
(Host: University for the Creative Arts)
- Keynotes:
Exploring style’s deep-rooted expression of both self and society
The potency contained in the vessels
Strand 1: Articulating Experience
Drawing and Intellectualism: Contested Paradigms of Knowledge
doing and talking: articulating craft
Understanding the experience of the amateur maker
Strand 2: Touching the Senses
Touch Stories: Engaging with the intimacy of materials through touch
Olfact – On A Pedagogy of Curiosity ©
The role of the Textile Materials Library
Strand 3: Design Process
Social Tagging as a Collecting Knowledge Strategy in the Engi-neering Design Change Process
Innovation in Knowledge Exchange
Assisting Conjoint Trend Analysis with Virtual Reality
Strand 4: Performance & Motion
Experiential knowledge and improvisation: Variations on movement, motion, emotion
A Case Study: Articulating Embodied Practice with Poise
Staging multi-modal explorative research using formalised techniques of performing arts
Strand 5: Sustainability
Technical and Reflective Rationality and Craft Practice
Recoding abandoned products: student visual designers experiment to sustain product lives
Transformative Learning in Sustainable Design Education
Strand 6: Space & Motion
Generating tacit knowledge through motion: A vision on the matter of space
The educational spatial connoisseur as the spatial critic
Building on cultural spaces and places for enhancing the intuitive capabilities of students of business and management
Challenges & Roundtable Discussions:
Intention: Reality is ideal
Proposition: Stress Free
Incredibles: an artistic investigation into the ‘embodiment’ of material culture
EKSIG Conference 2009, 19 June 2009, London Metropolitan University, London, UK
Conference Theme: Experiential Knowledge, Method and Methodology
(Host: Sir John Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design, London Metropolitan University)
-
Keynotes:
Sources of creativity in the ultimate design studio, the brain
Professional artistry
Strand 1: Methodologies & Experiential Knowledge
Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Creative professional practice in methods and methodology
Experiential Knowledge and Knowing: a Research Model from Psychology
Strand 2: Communicating Experiential Knowledge
The power of visual approaches in qualitative inquiry
Graphic design pedagogy: Employing reflection…
The Conversational Self: An approach for using personal journals
Strand 3: Social
Disturbance, Dialogue & Metaphor
Knowledge, experience & art in an innovative community-based study
Strand 4: Design
Facilitated articulation of implicit knowledge in textile design
Experiential Knowledge Representation and the Design of Product Usability
Strand 5: Craft
Diversity in the design processes of studio jewellers
A Search for Unpredictable Relationships
Panel & Plenary Discussion
EKC Conference 2007, 29 June 2007, University of Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Conference Theme: New Knowledge in the Creative Disciplines
(Host: Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries, University of Hertfordshire; Co-organizer: Sir John Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design, London Metropolitan University)
- Keynotes:
The Stone that was Cast Out: The Aesthetic Basis of Human Meaning and Understanding
Position Papers:
Praxis and the reflexive creative practitioner
Thinking with Art: ‘Doing’ Knowledge
Experiential Learning in Practice as Research: Context, Method, Knowledge
Knowledge Creation, Business, and Art: Exploring the Contradictions and Commonalities
Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approaches to Actor Training
Tacit Knowledge, Explicability and Creativity – A Study of the Australian Film Industry
Developing University-Based Design Research – a Pilot Study towards a Knowledge Management System for Design Research
Transferring and Transforming Design Knowledge
Using art practice to argue Human Rights issues
Panel & Plenary Discussion