Who am I ?
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Maria Than is a creative technologist, illustrator and designer focusing on the intersection of art, technology and activism.
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After graduating from BA Graphic Design at Camberwell College of Arts in 2019, Maria has since been working on projects with the aim for social good, such as being a fellow at Child Rights International Network (CRIN) to work on a collaborative campaign to tackle period poverty to organizing and running workshops and installations at the Tate Exchange event at Tate Modern with the Digital Maker Collective introducing audiences to topics of surveillance, facial recognition, deepfakes, Artificial Intelligence and human/children’s rights. Maria has also organised and participated in panels with Privacy International, Open Data Institute, Defend Digital Me and Big Brother Watch to discuss the implications of surveillance within art and design, the dangers of facial recognition and the ethics of children's rights. Recently she has researched and written an article on digital surveillance during COVID-19 and its effects on children’s rights.
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As an individual, Maria has worked and extensively experimented with techniques ranging from Augmented Reality as an alternative form of social design, creating face filters on Instagram, to building multiple video-game arcades, drawing, animation, programming in different languages, machine learning, creative directing, research and graphic design. She has also exhibited at Truman's Brewery, Tate Exchange, Somerset House and Dean Clough Galleries in Halifax. Maria’s work is playful, interactive and often narrative-based and aims to demystify creative technology to underrepresented communities, POC women and creative practitioners through workshops which she hosts, creates and consults on. Maria is also a member of the Digital Maker Collective, a part of the DIGI.GXL community, a partner at the Ricebox Studio and the Bean Collective. Maria is currently based in the UK where she works as Design and Outreach Officer at CRIN and co-runs Ricebox Studio with her three partners in crime. Since 2021, she is a Fellow at the Royal Society of Arts.
Message me for any proposals for collaborations, commissions/freelance or workshops.
Say hi!
What I'm currently doing
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Design & Outreach Officer at Child's Rights International Network (CRIN)
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Co-Founder at Ricebox Studio, award-winning design studio using creative
technology and visual communication for social good
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Fellow at the Royal Society of Arts
Collectives
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Digital Maker Collective: visit here
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The Bean Collective: visit here
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Interpolate: visit here
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STEM the violence: visit here
Past exhibitions
2020
Business As Usual
Dean Clough Galleries, Halifax
Uni to Unicorns: Tate Exchange 2020
"The Period Cloud" @ Ricebox Studios
Blavatnik Building, Tate Modern
2019
FREE RANGE
Made in Arts London
Truman Brewery, London
Digital Edge
Somerset House, London
"Festival" Degree Show
BA Graphic Design
Camberwell College of Arts, UAL, London
Work In Progress Show
BA Graphic Design
Hoxton, Shoreditch, London
2018
Digital Edge 2018
Digital Catapult, London
Tate Lates 2018
Digital Maker Collective
Tate Modern, 5th floor
The Bean Collective
Bussey Building, London
BA Graphic Design
Camberwell College of Arts
TWO THIRDS 2/3 Interim Show
BA Graphic Design
Camberwell College of Arts
Student demo
Lumen awards x V&A Digital Futures
Camberwell College of Arts
Annual Exhibition
Made in Arts London
TM Lighting Gallery, London
2017
Gutenberg Galaxy
BA Graphic Design
The Bear, Camberwell
BA Graphic Design
Camberwell College of Arts
Workshops & conferences
2020
Screen Walks with Zaiba Jabbar
with The Photographers Gallery and Foto Museum
Panel participant
UAL CCI: Draw Using Python Programming
Workshop Host
Online at UAL: Creative Computing Institute
Our Sisterhood x Institute of Coding
Digital Mentor
Online
Broadcast Curator
London
Broadcast Researcher
London
What's the Problem with Surveillance
& Facial Recognition? - Panel with Privacy International
Panelist @ CRIN
Blavatnik Building, Tate Modern
Uni to Unicorns: Tate Exchange 2020
Project Organizer & Technical Leader @ DMC x CRIN
Blavatnik Building, Tate Modern
2019
Workshop Leader @ Interpolate
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
You Are What You Share - Facial Recognition Workshop
with Privacy International and Defend Digital Me
Workshop Host
Hull, UK
Beta Utopia: Tate Exchange 2019
Workshop Leader @ CRIN
Blavatnik Building, Tate Modern
2018
Sonic workshop with Southside Young Leaders
Workshop Leader
Camberwell College of Arts, UAL
Workshop Leader @ Interpolate
York University, Toronto, Canada
Technology: Tate Exchange 2018
Workshop Leader @ DMC
Blavatnik Building, Tate Modern
Workshop Facilitator
Somerset House & Glasgow School of Art
UAL Learning & Teaching Exchange 2018
Workshop Leader @ Interpolate
Camberwell College of Arts, UAL.
Client work and
past experiences
2020
Website Illustration
Client: Consultancy agency The4OC
'Create Expressive Video-Games' Future Learn course
Illustration work
Client: UAL Creative Computing Institute
Augmented Reality Filter for Instagram
Client: Tom Fletcher
https://www.instagram.com/_business_as_usual_show/
2019
Web Design
Client: Award-winning artist Isabelle Rougier
Content & Visual Designer
Client: Southwark Council, SPG & Sailom Foundation
Games for Brains, an educational project to teach children
age 9-11 about the dangers of knife crime
2018
Branding and Graphic Design
Client: UAL Dance Society
Junior Graphic Designer
LSE & UAL Student Union
Book seller @ London Art Book Fair
Occasional Papers
Whitechapel gallery, London
Selected features
2020
'Design a Feminist Chatbot' Future Learn
course by Feminist Internet and UAL Creative
Computing Institute
Video contribution to course
2019
'Building Feminist Voice AI bots',
Article written by Alex Fefegha
'Feminist Internet: Designing a Feminist Alexa'
Article written by Rhiannon Williams
'Ep.1 Is a Feminist Alexa possible ?'
Feminist Internet Podcast,
Somerset House, London
Article written by Victor Sande-Aneiros
2018
'Tuned In'
Article in Grafik Mag
written by Anne Lisa Reynolds
SWIPE: Sky News' Technology Show
TV Segment for Sky News
Food Drive
Camberwell Zine Fair
Camberwell College of Arts, UAL
Education
2016-2019
BA Graphic Design
First Class Honours
Camberwell College of Arts
University of the Arts London (UAL)
2015-2016
Foundation Art & Design: Graphics Pathway
Distinction
Ravensbourne University
London
Skills & stuff I can do:
Top tier
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Adobe Creative Suite
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Illustration / Drawing / Graphic facilitation
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Augmented Reality Instagram filters
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Workshop host, consultant and curator
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Creative producing
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Video editing
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GIF making / basic Animations
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Social media content
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Public speaking / Pitching
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Project managing / People managing
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Problem solving / Debugging / Troubleshooting
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Improvisation
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French (native)
Second tier
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Physical computing (Arduino, Raspberry Pi,
Bare Conductive boards, MakeyMakey) -
Programming (HTML/CSS, Python, beginner in
Javascript, C#, C++) -
Photography & photo editing
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Publication design
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Branding & identity design
