Laura Pappa

Laura Pappa is a Visiting Associate Professor of Graphic Design at the Estonian Academy of Arts’ Faculty of Design, with academic ties to institutions like the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague and the Sandberg Institute. She holds a master’s degree from Werkplaats Typografie in Arnhem, Netherlands, after studies at the Estonian Academy of Arts and Gerrit Rietveld Academie. Pappa’s work spans exhibition design, book publishing, and visual identity systems for cultural institutions such as Het Nieuwe Instituut, the Estonian Museum of Architecture, and Kunstverein Toronto. She co-founded the Asterisk Summer School (2013–2016) and curated the ‘Signals from the Periphery’ exhibition at Tallinn Art Hall (2017). Her teaching emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches, with recent roles at Estonian Academy of Arts (2020–present) and ArtEZ Institute of the Arts (2021). Key projects include the Estonian Pavilion’s ‘Orchidelirium’ at Venice Biennale (2022) and identity designs for the Matter of Art biennale (2019–2020). She collaborates frequently with institutions like Valiz publishing and Casco Art Institute.

Education: Estonian Academy of Arts (BA), Gerrit Rietveld Academie (Diploma), Werkplaats Typografie (MA).

Research interests focus on graphic design as a socio-cultural tool, with projects blending typography, exhibition curation, and critical art practices. Her work addresses themes like cultural peripheries, institutional critique, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Recent projects highlight eco-critical design (Orchidelirium), biennale identities (Matter of Art), and architectural histories (To the New World!).

Teaching roles include Royal Academy of Art, The Hague (2018–2020) and workshops at Camberwell College of Art and Sandberg Institute.

Labs/Teams: Collaborations with Ranno Ait, Elisabeth Klement, and Robert Milne on typography and exhibition systems. Part of the design team for the Estonian Pavilion at Venice Biennale 2022.