Bianca Carague is a Filipino social designer and artist who builds virtual spaces for social impact.
With a Master’s degree in Social Design from the Design Academy Eindhoven (2020), she combines design, research and worldbuilding to imagine new possibilities for the future.
In her work, building worlds online is as much about experimenting with new models through which people can relate, interact and transact with each other, as it is about how the digital environment looks and feels.
Bianca is the co-founder of Bump Galaxy, a virtual world for mental healthcare that uses a 3D gaming environment and game mechanics to facilitate therapy. Bump Galaxy provides new physiological experiences of safety and social support, helping people overcome anxiety, depression and trauma through play. Bianca calls it ‘Game World Therapy’.
Bianca believes that transformation happens through collaboration so while she believes in the potential of new technologies she is even more optimistic about unlocking the potential of people.
follow her on Instagram @biancarague 🌸
or on Twitter @bianca_carague
EXHIBITIONS
Maker Festival Twente. Enschede, NL. May 2022.
Gen C: Children of 2050. Tetem. Enscehde, NL. March 2022.
Infocalypse Now. GOGBOT Festival. Tetem. Enschede, NL. September 2021.
Design in Age of Crisis. London Design Biennale. London, UK. June 2021.
Moving in Stasis. Het Nieuwe Instituut. Rotterdam, Netherlands. March-April 2021.
Design in an Age of Crisis. London Design Biennale. London, UK. January 2021.
Motta Do About Care. Motta Art Books. Eindhoven, Netherlands. November 2020.
Graduation Show 2020. Dutch Design Week. Eindhoven, Netherlands. October 2020.
Virtual Design Week: Reflections on a New Digital Earth. ACIIID Online. August 2020.
I See That I See What You Don’t See. Het Nieuwe Instituut. Rotterdam, Netherlands. October-December 2019.
I See That I See What You Don’t See. Dutch Pavilion, Broken Nature: Design Takes on Human Survival XXII. La Triennale di Milano. Milan, Italy. March-September 2019.
PRESS & FEATURES
Zorgvisie. Digitaal platform voor geestelijke gezondheid ontstaat uit computerspel. Lennard Bonapart. 23 Nov 2021.
“Bump Galaxy”. Anticipate Amsterdam. 29 June 2021.
“Mental Wellness: Can Digital Arenas Help Us De-stress?”. FRAME Web. 07 May 2021.
“BUMP GALAXY: The Minecraft Server for Self-healing”. Safe in Our World. 23 April 2021.
FRAME Magazine: ‘A New Model for Wellbeing. Issue 139. March-April 2021.
Moving in Stasis: Gallery 3 by Design Academy Eindhoven. Het Nieuwe Instituut. 8 March 2021.
Moving in Stasis. BNO. 8 March 2021.
Moving in Stasis: Design Academy Eindhoven Masters. Arts Thread. 7 March 2021.
Design in an Age of Crisis. London Design Biennale. London, UK. January 2021.
Dd, Dutch Designers Yearbook 2020. BNO. December 2020.
“A Virtual World for Interactive Therapy”. LS:N Global. 6 November 2020.
“Building Video Games for a Better World”. Amy Sellers. Future of Video Gaming. November 2020.
Barcelona Design Week ‘20. “International Pavilion — The New Intimacy in Dutch Design Week”. 17 November 2020.
Dutch Design Week Magazine. Robert Urquhart. “New Agency for New Intimacy”. 23 Oct 2020.
Design Indaba. “The virtual community for mental health and care in a game form”. 22 Oct 2020.
Architect Your Life Philippines. “The Realm Where Codes Can be Modified”. 24 Oct 2020.
Medium. “Learning from COVID19: Reflections on knowledge-related commons and practices of self-organization amidst COVID19”. School of Commons. 20 Jul 2020.
TALKS & WORKSHOPS
‘Mental Wellness Through The Digital World’. PAREF Woodrose. Philippines. 19 Nov 2021.
‘Mental Healthcare Reimagined’. VR Days Europe. Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 16 Nov 2021.
‘Living, Loving & Working in The Metaverse: Female Founders Leading The Way’. VR Days Europe. Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 13 Nov 2021.
Fiction & Reality: Design for Social Change. Unirsm Design. San Marino, Italy. 13-17 Sept 2021.
Building Worlds from the Inside Out. Benilde Industrial Design. World Industrial Design Day. Manila, Philippines. 9 July 2021.
The Hmm @ Internet with NotaPlayground. The Hmm. The Netherlands. 28 Apr 2021.
The Business of Design & Arts. JCI Manila. Philippines. 13 April 2021.
Designing Virtual Meditation Worlds. A Mindful Life Thursday. The Art of Meditation. Germany. 4 March 2021.
Game World Therapy for Post-COVID Virtual Communities. Hub of Innovation for Inclusion. De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde. Manila, Philippines. 2 March 2021.
Teletherapy: Healing Through Technology. Asian Health Alliance. Emory University. USA. 24 February 2021.
Towards A Theory and Practice of Tele-drama Therapy: A Roundtable Conversation. NYU Steindhardt. USA. 7 February 2021.
Prototyping Future Digital Societies in Times of Crisis. Iceland University of the Arts. Reykjavik, Iceland. 27 January 2021.
Social Design Talk & Tours. Design Academy Eindhoven, NL. 12 January 2021.
What is ‘Social Design?. Taguig University. Taguig, Philippines. July 2019.
Design Thinking for Disaster Preparedness. Ateneo de Naga. Naga City, Philippines. September 2016.