Access Note

This note provides details about the accessibility of our programme and the spaces where our activities are held, both physical and digital.

While we navigate the current challenges of our institution, we are committed to finding solutions that enhance accessibility. We are continually deepening our understanding of what accessibility and inclusiveness mean and striving to improve our policies and practices. As part of this ongoing process, we regularly update this note. (Last updated: 07/01/2025)

When we announce events, we include specific accessibility details. If you have any questions, or special needs, or need extra help, email us at studiumgenerale@rietveldacademie.nl, and we will do our best to assist you.

Rietveld/Sandberg Campus

Studium Generale Rietveld Academie is an integral part of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie curriculum. Most of our activities take place on campus, except for the closing conference, which is held at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. The campus houses the Rietveld building, the Benthem Crouwel (BC) building and the Fedlev building.

For detailed accessibility information, visit this page.

For information on how to get there, follow this link.

Studium Generale’s spaces

Studium Generale hosts most of its programs at the Theory Stairs and Rietveld/Sandberg Library, both located in the Fedlev building. For some workshops, we use spaces in other buildings on campus, such as the GYM.

Gym:

The Gym can be challenging to maintain at a comfortable temperature, and its acoustics are suboptimal, with potential noise from nearby areas such as the canteen. The elevator is small and does not accommodate larger wheelchairs.

Theory Stairs:

All lectures, talks, and performances are held at the Theory Stairs, located in the Fedlev building. The film screening programme is also hosted there.

Seating at the Theory Stairs is not ergonomic and offers limited support, but we are trying out different solutions. The two main entrances have heavy doors and high thresholds without clear markings. Additionally, the lift to the downstairs does not have audible indicators, and access routes may sometimes be obstructed by workshop materials. To improve accessibility, we have opened the threshold-free doors between the Theory Stairs and the woodworking area. A wheelchair-accessible bathroom is available downstairs, next to the library. All presentations feature live captioning and are streamed.

Rietveld/Sandberg Library:

Our reading group sessions take place in the library. The library also has bookshelves set up with literature, references and a book list on the theme of the current program.

The library is located in the Fedlev building. To reach the library, you walk past the wood workshop and down steep stairs. The lift to the downstairs area does not have audible indicators, and access routes may occasionally be blocked by workshop materials. The library itself is only partially suitable for wheelchair or mobility device users. The availability of alternative text formats, such as audiobooks and videos, is limited but part of the reading group. A wheelchair-accessible bathrooms can be found around the corner.

Live streaming & Zoom meetings:

We offer live streaming with automatic captioning of part of the activities in the Theory Stairs. Some of our activities may be organised via Zoom, which includes automated live captioning. We will always announce live streaming and Zoom events on time in our e-flyers.

Lexicon project:

Each year, Studium Generale creates an experimental lexicon based on the theme of the programme. This lexicon is an artist publication designed by Graphic Design students and is usually available in print and digitally on our website. Starting from this year (2024-25) have included a dyslexia-friendly font.

Home website:

The Studium Generale home website informs about the programs and is an archive of our past activities. The site was not originally built with a focus on accessibility or adherence to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). As a result, It may not meet everyone's needs. Improving the website’s accessibility is an ongoing project. In the coming year, we plan to find the resources to completely overhaul and update the website to improve accessibility. 

Project website:

Each year, a student team from Rietveld’s Graphic Design Department creates a project website for the current edition, aligned with the theme and programme. This year’s website, https://radicalaccessibility.rietveldacademie.nl/, was designed with accessibility in mind. It features a dyslexia-friendly font and is compatible with accessibility plugins and widgets.

Websites from previous projects are experimental, beautiful and/or fun (links to the websites can be found on our home website), but do not comply with WCAG. We want to incorporate these guidelines into the creation of future websites where possible. This is a new challenge to us and for our design students.

Code of Conduct & Privacy

With regard to the code of conduct and privacy, we follow the overarching policy of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie. If a specific Studium Generale event requires something different or extra, we will notify you in the e-flyer announcement.

Gerrit Rietveld Academie Code of Conduct

Gerrit Rietveld Academie Privacy Statement

Explanatory note

Over the years, Studium Generale has occasionally addressed issues of accessibility and care. However, until recently, these considerations seldom resulted in meaningful changes to how we operate as a programme and platform. In a previous edition, Mira Thompson and Staci Bu Shea drew attention to this gap in their video contribution "Sweet Sweet Fantasy." Their work reimagines accessibility not as a strict protocol or legal requirement, but as an opportunity to create and foster intimate spaces:

"Intimacy shapes accessibility, accessibility shapes intimacy. What is an ableist world missing out on because of the exclusion of disabled people, and because of its rejection of crip knowledge, crip experience, and intimacy?"

This perspective has been a key inspiration in shaping this year’s programme. While we have noticed a growing awareness of diverse bodyminds within our institution, this awareness has not yet been supported by adequate policies, resources, or facilities. The collective Crip the Curriculum—active as an educational platform within the academy from 2022 to 2024—has been instrumental in introducing Crip theory and practice. We are grateful for their ongoing guidance, and this year, we are proud to have them co-curating a significant part of our program.

To accelerate our learning and transformation, the new edition of Studium Generale is fully centered on accessibility, with a focus on intersectional and Crip perspectives. Also, we have formed an Access Audit working group to identify and address accessibility barriers within our programmes and spaces.

Our efforts are guided by questions raised by Karen Barad in Meeting the Universe Halfway:

"What would it mean to acknowledge that the ‘able-bodied’ depend on the ‘disabled’ for their very existence? What would it mean to take on that responsibility? What would it mean to deny one’s responsibility to the other once there is a recognition that one’s very embodiment is integrally entangled with the other?"

These reflections remind us that accessibility is not just about accommodation but about mutual responsibility and interconnectedness. This understanding drives us to build programs and spaces that honor and amplify diverse experiences, fostering a truly inclusive environment.

Credits

Many thanks to: Crip the Curriculum (Pernilla Philip, Alcide Breaux, Harriet Foster, Akash Sheshadri, Menko Dijksterhuis), Mira Thompson & Staci Bu Shea, Access Audit working group (Anja Groten, Gleb Maiboroda, Mirjam Mazurel, Arnoud Kortenbout, Menko Dijksterhuis, Nanette Krijnen, Tomas Adolfs), Iarlaith Ní Fheorais, and the many other people from inside and outside the academy we are learning with.

From our archives (selection)

Sweet Sweet Fantasy, Mira Thompson / Stacy Bu Shea, January 18, 2023

Crip Time, Carolyn Lazard, March 21, 2018

On Touching: The Alterity Within, Karen Barad, March 24, 2018

Disability Aesthetics, Schizoanalysis, and the Neural Subject, Leon B. Hilton, March 24, 2017

Every Life Matters, The Work of Lorenza Böttner, Paul B. Preciado, March 24, 2018

Hold Me Now - Feel and Touch in an Unreal World, Studium Generale 2017-1018