Mary Ikoniadou

Dr Mary Ikoniadou is a Senior Lecturer at Leeds School of Arts, Leeds Beckett University, specializing in visual and cultural politics, design history, and refugee publishing. She teaches on the BA (Hons) in Graphic Design and is an active researcher in periodical studies and Greek diaspora visual culture.

Her research explores the intersection of design, politics, and identity, particularly through the lens of Greek refugee magazines during the Cold War. She is currently the Co-Investigator on the interdisciplinary project Imagining Greece: How Tourism Shaped a Nation, alongside Professor Eirini Karamouzi (University of Sheffield), which includes an online exhibition supported by the Onassis Foundation and Research England.

Research Focus:

• Visual and cultural politics
• Design history and periodical studies
• Refugee publishing and diaspora narratives
• Greek national identity and Cold War visual culture
• Tourism and national image construction

Her recent publications span from analyzing the visual rhetoric of Greek exile magazines in East Germany to exploring the role of design in constructing national imaginaries. Her work is deeply interdisciplinary, combining historical analysis with visual culture theory and design pedagogy.

Collaborations & Support:
She works with a wide network of researchers including architectural historians, digital humanities specialists, and heritage scholars. Her research is supported by the LSA PARTICIPATE Research Cluster and national institutions such as the Greek National Tourism Organization and the National Historical Museum of Greece.