The initiative includes an editorial illustration workshop for Design students and the exhibition "A Feeling of Home" at the Portimão campus.
Between September 28 and October 2, ISMAT will host professor and illustrator Emine Nilüfer Üstündağ from Izmir Katip Celebi University, Turkey, as part of an Erasmus+ international mobility program focused on teaching and sharing practices in Communication Design.
During her stay at ISMAT, Nilüfer Üstündağ will conduct a workshop aimed at 2nd-year Design students, focusing on editorial illustration, character design, and conceptual exploration through pareidolia.
The activity encourages students to use seemingly random shapes, textures, and visual stimuli as starting points for creating characters and visual narratives. Throughout the workshop, students will engage in processes of observation, experimentation, and conceptual development, ranging from shape identification and sketching to character creation and editorial illustration production. The program concludes with a presentation of the developed works and a joint critique and feedback session.
Simultaneously, the artist will present her solo exhibition "A Feeling of Home" at ISMAT, which will be open to the public in the Institute's main entrance from September 28 to October 31, 2026. Comprising 15 illustrations, the exhibition explores different interpretations of the concept of "home," shifting it from a strictly physical dimension to the realms of memory, objects, relationships, and everyday experiences. Under the question “Where do I feel at home?”, A Feeling of Home proposes a reflection on what transforms a space, a person, a memory, or an object into a place of belonging.
Nilüfer Üstündağ's presence at ISMAT thus bridges teaching, artistic practice, and international exchange, providing students with direct contact with alternative creative methodologies and contemporary approaches to illustration and visual communication. The initiative is part of the international collaboration strategy between institutions and also aims to pave the way for future joint activities and projects within the scope of the Erasmus+ program.
