output 11 Nov 26
The Gerrit Rietveld Academie and Rietveld Sandberg Research are pleased to announce that Pernilla Manjula Philip officially started her Professional Doctorate (PD) research trajectory on 1 September. Planned for four consecutive years, the trajectory will conclude with a public presentation and doctoral defence in August 2030.
Pernilla's research proposal, Creating Care: A practice of collective access and learning, looks at how Crip knowledge and disability justice can change the way institutions approach care, learning and design. Centering accessibility, interdependence, and lived experience, her practice explores illness in relation to the medical industry, approaching it as both lived reality and site of inquiry.
Rooted in personal experience, her research investigates how do-it-yourself/together (DIY/DIT) and open-source medical tools surface questions of vulnerability, shared resilience, and power. She highlights how unofficial practices challenge dominant medical narratives while raising questions about who shapes medical knowledge and what counts as safety. Pernilla is a member of Hackers & Designers and is a founding member of Crip the Curriculum.
Rooted in personal experience, her research investigates how do-it-yourself/together (DIY/DIT) and open-source medical tools surface questions of vulnerability, shared resilience, and power. She highlights how unofficial practices challenge dominant medical narratives while raising questions about who shapes medical knowledge and what counts as safety. Pernilla is a member of Hackers & Designers and is a founding member of Crip the Curriculum.
Can you tell us what your Professional Doctorate(PD) project is about and how it ties in with your professional practice over the past few years?
My Professional Doctorate (PD) project explores illness from the perspective of patients. Through installations, workshops and conversations, I question who gets to legitimise knowledge within healthcare and how we can actively shape the care we need.
I am particularly interested in what happens to the biometric data generated by our bodies as it enters the medical-industrial complex, and how online communities can create alternative forms of knowledge, agency and care via participation in open source solutions.
Can you tell us a bit about how you approach research in your work?
Collective practices and actually all forms of sharing has become increasingly important part of how I work. I really enjoy conversations within the research process as well as making with others through collaborations.
I tend not to separate theory and practice too strictly. The material aspect is central to my process, and I often find that thinking happens through making and experimenting. Sometimes I start by exploring a material, tool, or technique without having a clear direction or goal, allowing ideas and questions to emerge through the process itself.
Could you introduce your supervisory team and explain how their expertise shapes your research?
I have an amazing supervisory team! Anja Groten is my first supervisor and a wonderful person to think alongside. Her expertise spans both the design process and artistic research I always feel free to explore ideas and think things through with her.
Florian Cramer has extensive knowledge of collective practices and is also developing a project around lived experiences in neurodivergent communities, which resonates strongly with my research.
Constantina Zavitsanos is an artist based in New York whose artistic practice I deeply admire. She brings a strong conceptual perspective that I find incredibly valuable for the project.
Linda Bonga Bouna has a thorough understanding of the medical-industrial system, while maintaining a critical, decolonial perspective on it.
In addition, the workshops at the Rietveld Academie are supported by talented staff who take care of and maintain the workshops. They hold a wealth of knowledge and are very important to this research.
Do you have any recommendations for books, podcasts, films, or exhibitions for people interested in the same topic?
My Professional Doctorate (PD) project explores illness from the perspective of patients. Through installations, workshops and conversations, I question who gets to legitimise knowledge within healthcare and how we can actively shape the care we need.
I am particularly interested in what happens to the biometric data generated by our bodies as it enters the medical-industrial complex, and how online communities can create alternative forms of knowledge, agency and care via participation in open source solutions.
Can you tell us a bit about how you approach research in your work?
Collective practices and actually all forms of sharing has become increasingly important part of how I work. I really enjoy conversations within the research process as well as making with others through collaborations.
I tend not to separate theory and practice too strictly. The material aspect is central to my process, and I often find that thinking happens through making and experimenting. Sometimes I start by exploring a material, tool, or technique without having a clear direction or goal, allowing ideas and questions to emerge through the process itself.
Could you introduce your supervisory team and explain how their expertise shapes your research?
I have an amazing supervisory team! Anja Groten is my first supervisor and a wonderful person to think alongside. Her expertise spans both the design process and artistic research I always feel free to explore ideas and think things through with her.
Florian Cramer has extensive knowledge of collective practices and is also developing a project around lived experiences in neurodivergent communities, which resonates strongly with my research.
Constantina Zavitsanos is an artist based in New York whose artistic practice I deeply admire. She brings a strong conceptual perspective that I find incredibly valuable for the project.
Linda Bonga Bouna has a thorough understanding of the medical-industrial system, while maintaining a critical, decolonial perspective on it.
In addition, the workshops at the Rietveld Academie are supported by talented staff who take care of and maintain the workshops. They hold a wealth of knowledge and are very important to this research.
Do you have any recommendations for books, podcasts, films, or exhibitions for people interested in the same topic?
Wellcome museum (UK) – exhibitions space and also great libraray:
Common Practice is group exhibition opening later this month in Stedelijk Museum (NL). Hackers & Designer is also taking part in this show
Book tip: Cyborg by Laura Forlano, Danya Glabau
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09
Dec '26
The Gerrit Rietveld Academie and Rietveld Sandberg Research are pleased to announce that Pernilla Manjula Philip officially started her Professional Doctorate (PD) research trajectory on 1 September. Planned for four consecutive years, the trajectory will conclude with a public presentation and doctoral defence in August 2030. To introduce her research to the GRA community, Pernilla will be holding a presentation on December 9, 2026.