KATHARINA SAND (PhD)

 Writer. Professor. Curator. Entrepreneur. 

As an editor, curator, and as a professor, I discover new stories and potential every day.

My over 160 publications focus on in-depth interviews with creative industry experts and the investigation of innovation. 

My career as a an arts/culture and fashion correspondent in New York led me to become the CEO/founder of the design platform SEPTIEME ETAGE in the year 2000, and towards over twenty years of art and design practice and research.  While my academic writing can be found on ORCID, my other writing has found its way into a variety of publications, including  L'OFFICIEL Suisse, PAPER Magazine, Bolero Magazine, Bilan, AgefiBliss, Time Out Switzerland, New York Magazine, Manhattan File, and many more.

I write in English, German and French, and chit-chat in Italian.

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I am also a professor and speaker. Currently I am visiting professor at AMD Akademie Mode & Design and part of the Parsons Paris faculty. I have taught at the HEAD-Genève University of Art and Design, as visiting professor at the Kunstuniversität Linz, and as professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and at the École supérieure de mode/École de design of the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). Let's make change happen through education! 

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Through my research, I explore the cultural and societal challenges and potential of digital transformation. As a curator of design and ideas, I dedicated myself to the support of the creative industries.  My projects include co-curating "Textile Design Now" at the Centre de design in Montreal in 2023-2024. It showcased 22 highly innovative international artists & designers, including Julia Körner, Pauline van Dongen, A+N Studio, and Veronica Ranner. The 2020 exhibition "Making Fashion Sense" at the HeK in Basel, explored technology as a transformative tool for artists & designers. It featured designers such as Iris Van Herpen, Hussein Chalayan and Ying Gao, as well as the rising star of creative AI, Robbie Barrat and virtual fashion designs by the artist Alfatih. Funding partners have included the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (CRSH/SSHRC), Creative Industries Fund NL, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ), the Japan Foundation Toronto, Goethe Institut Montreal, the IKEA Foundation Switzerland, Cornercard, and the Fondation Didier et Martine Primat.

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As a researcher and academic, I combine speculative design thinking regarding arts and technology, rooted in 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur in the creative industries, with theoretical frameworks. I enjoy letting my experience infuse and enthuse the hearts and minds of visitors, students, and readers.  My research and speaking engagements have taken me from Shanghai to Dubai.

In 2021, I was commissioned to document twenty art and technology collaborations for ReFREAM, one of the pillars of the S+T+ARTS (Science + Technology + Arts) programme. S+T+ARTS is an initiative of the European Commission, launched under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme to support collaborations between artists, scientists, engineers and researchers. 

In 2024, I was selected as an expert evaluator for the MUSAE project, which is also supported by Horizon Europe through S+T+ARTS. 

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 I have been active in professional and academic design juries since 2001, including the Swiss Textiles Award, the Design Prize Switzerland, and creative_project of the city of Vienna.

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Catch me at one of my lectures or conferences. Or just browse through some of my journalism work below.