Head of the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL in St. Petersburg, coordinator of regional campuses and the international programs, graphic designer, founder and editor-in-chief of the "Projector" magazine.
PhD, Academic Supervisor of the Master's Program and senior lecturer at the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL in St. Petersburg, architectural historian.
Curator of the "Communication Design" program at the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL in St. Petersburg, type and graphic designer.
Curator of the "Communication Design" program at the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL in St. Petersburg, founder and creative director of the design group and branding agency "Terminal Design".
Instructor of the "History and Theory of Design" course at the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL in St. Petersburg, film critic, curator of the "Invisible Film Festival".
Curator of the specialization "Typography and Multipage Design" at the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL in St. Petersburg, book designer.
Curator of "Communication Design" program at the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL in St. Petersburg, artist, designer.
Instructor of the "Art Practice" course at the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL in St. Petersburg, artist, book illustrator.
For young creatives, contests and exhibitions are often the first step into the professional world — and HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL actively supports students, opening doors to international opportunities. Alisa Lapshina’s journey is one of those success stories. A graduate of the Photography program, she’s now part of the university’s team. Her works were recently featured at the Pingyao International Photography Festival. Alisa shares her impressions from the festival trip, her contest experience, and how art can help you find your voice.
On September 25, the Faculty of Creative Industries at HSE University took another step in building academic ties with China. The delegation visited Xi’an Technological University to discuss future cooperation — from joint programs to a forthcoming memorandum of understanding. Beyond formal talks, the visit was also about exchange and discovery.
On September 29, 2025, HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL in Moscow hosted a delegation from the China Academy of Art. The visit continued the dialogue that began earlier this month, when representatives of HSE’s Faculty of Creative Industries traveled to Hangzhou on September 14 to discuss future academic collaboration.
On September 19, the 25th Pingyao International Photography Festival (PIP) opened in the city of Pingyao, Shanxi Province, China. The festival featured works by 16 students from the ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL, selected through the international student photo competition HSE Creative Open / Photoproject.
On September 15 – 16, 2025, a delegation from HSE University’s Faculty of Creative Industriesvisited the Communication University of Zhejiang (CUZ), touring the Hangzhou and Tongxiang campuses, meeting with university leadership and faculty, reviewing campus infrastructure, and discussing prospects for academic and project-based cooperation.
On September 14, 2025, a delegation from HSE University’s Faculty of Creative Industries met with representatives of the China Academy of Art (CAA) and the CAA Design Museum at the Academy’s Hangzhou campus. This was the first in‑person meeting following CAA professors Shao Wenhuan, Head of the Department of Photography, and Liu Yang, Deputy Head of the Department, serving as jury members for the HSE Creative Open / Photo Project. The visit marked an important step in advancing academic dialogue between the universities.
On July 30, 2025, representatives from HSE University and Thailand’s Creative Economy Agency (CEA) held a joint meeting to discuss opportunities for collaboration in creative education and cultural exchange. The event took place at the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL and was held with the support of the Royal Thai Embassy in Russia.
Over 100 graduates received their higher education diplomas after completing programs in Design and Computer Science & Data Analysis. In total, 117 students took part in the programs, representing various regions of Russia — including the Moscow, Leningrad, Tula, and Novosibirsk regions, Perm Krai, and the Republic of Bashkortostan — as well as four other countries: Kazakhstan, Georgia, Portugal, and the United States.
On July 7, 2025, a delegation from the Communication University of Zhejiang, led by University Council Chair Wei Guotang, visited HSE University. The meeting in the Blue Hall of the Durasov House brought together HSE Vice Rector Dmitry Zemtsov, Vice Dean Tatiana Rivchun, and representatives of the HSE Institute for Creative Industries Development and the HSE Art and Design School.
On May 24, the first-ever DAFES AWARDSceremony took place in Moscow as part of the Telling Stories creative industries festival, organized in collaboration with the DAFES competition platform. The awards featured fourteen categories that brought together young creatives and industry veterans working at the forefront of design, art, and media.
On May 30, 2025, three students from the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL took part in the opening of the “New Wave” Nanjing International Youth Image Exhibition. The exhibition is a curated showcase featuring works by emerging artists from around the world and is organized by the Photography Department of Nanjing University of the Arts.
On May 24, at the Moscow Telling Stories creative industries festival, the HSE CREATIVE OPEN award ceremony took place. Winners of the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL's flagship international prize presented their projects across 20 categories — including Packaging Design, Music Video, Conceptual Hotel, and Folk Craft as a Brand.
On May 20, a joint exhibition by Mitya Kharshak, Head of HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL in St. Petersburg, and Chinese photographer and professor Yao Lu was officially opened.
As part of International Partners' Week, a student exhibition featuring the winners and finalists of an international poster competition opened in the new building of HSE University – St. Petersburg on Vasilievsky Island. The exhibition was organized by the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL – St. Petersburg in collaboration with the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (Indonesia).
While visiting HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL in Saint Petersburg, designer Ariel Kotzer gave a lecture and sat down for an interview, sharing his insights on AI’s role in art and design—its potential, limitations, and creative impact.
On October 10, the award ceremony for the winners of the Russian professional competition in the field of creativity, design and advertising ADCR Awards took place. This year, all the prizes in the Graphic Design / Product Design category were taken by our students. In addition, the HSE Art and Design School has once again become the School of the Year, and Leonid Slavin is the tutor of the year!
On October 21, the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL – St. Petersburg, in partnership with Sevkabel Port, invites you to a lecture by Iranian graphic designer Mehdi Saeedi titled Change and Challenges.
The HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL in St. Petersburg is stepping up its collaboration with the Liszt Institute (Hungarian Cultural Center), as it’s hosting a public lecture by renowned Hungarian designer László Nagy.
The HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL and the Moscow City Tourism Committee collaborated on two major projects: the international photo exhibition for BRICS countries “Big Cities in Moscow” and the international short video competition WOWMOSCOW, which was won by Takha Audyarahma from Indonesia. Her video will premiere on August 24 as part of the Moscow International Film Week program.
Indonesian student Takha Audyarahma has been announced as the winner of WOWMOSCOW, the International Short Video Competition about Cities, held as part of the forum and festival Territory of the Future. Moscow 2030. The results were revealed on August 15 during an official ceremony at the Cinema Museum at VDNKh.
The HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL is happy to announce special prizes for the participants of the International Competition of Short Videos about Cities WOWMOSCOW.
The finalists of the WOWMOSCOW International Competition of Short Videos about Cities have been announced. The competition was organized by the Moscow City Tourism Committee and the HSE Art and Design School as part of the forum and festival Territory of the Future. Moscow 2030.
We are pleased to announce that a shortlist has been published for the WOWMOSCOW International Competition of Short Videos about Cities organized by the Moscow City Tourism Committee and the HSE Art and Design School as part of the forum and festival "Territory of the Future. Moscow 2030".
The Moscow City Tourism Committee and HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL invite young directors, animators, cameramen, and other authors working with video to participate in the International Competition of Short Videos about Cities. The contest is organized on the platform of HSE ART&DESIGN SCHOOL and the Institute of Creative Industries Development "Creative City" in the framework of the forum-festival “Forum Moscow 2030 — The Home of the Future”.
On June 28, at the RASKROI space in St. Petersburg, Oded Ezer delivered a lecture focused on his numerous experimental projects, which lie at the intersection of typography and design, biology, and social phenomena.
Mitya Kharshak, Head of HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL in Saint Petersburg, presented a lecture on “Branding and Visual Communications of Cultural Institutions” at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design.
In April, HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL and Russian-Armenian University (RAU) hosted Design Day #2 in Yerevan. The highlight of the event was a public talk moderated by Mitya Kharshak and Igor Gurovich, centered around the theme "Girl Power". Some of the brightest representatives of the contemporary Armenian design scene joined the discussion.
HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL and HSE Doctoral School in Arts & Design invite to take part in the international conference «Theories and practices of art and design: sociocultural, economic and political contexts», will be held on April 10-12, 2024.
In this year's edition, the focus of the event centred around the expansive domains of Art and Design, highlighting key disciplines including Animation, Communication, UI/UX, Fashion, Architecture, Interior Design, Media & Mass Communication, and Filmmaking.
Mitya Kharshak, the supervisor of HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL in Saint Petersburg, recently embarked on a visit to India as part of an international delegation from NRU HSE. During this visit, he delivered lectures on branding and visual communications at esteemed institutions such as Subharti University, the Indian Institute of Arts & Design, the UPES School of Design, and LPU.
The results of The Oesol International Typography Award, the first annual typographic award, have been announced. Its shortlist includes the students of HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL, St.Petersburg, and Andy Martin, curator.
The new issue of the Projector magazine dedicated to Turkish design will be presented on September 13th in Istanbul by its publisher and editor-in-chief, the head of the HSE School of Design in St. Petersburg, a well-known designer Mitya Kharshak.
Case studies affiliated with the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL were included on the short-list of Dieline Awards 2023. Alumni of the School Nikita Gavrilov introduced Beaky — a conceptual cosmetic brand that reimagines childhood-like bath time. Another work selected by the jury — Foodzilla — pet food packaging designed by the second-year student Zhenya Zhuk.
Misha Nekrasov, a graduate of the Communication Design profile in St. Petersburg, already during his studies managed to work with such brands as BMW, MINI, and the St. Petersburg Motorcycle Center. Now Misha works at the Creative Mind Bureau branding agency. In the interview, he told us about his creative and professional path, the principles of working with clients and gave some advice to young designers.
According to the results of the prestigious world educational rating QS-2021, published on March 4, HSE has improved its position by entering the top 150 world universities in the Art & Design category and becoming the only Russian university listed in it.
A large-scale poster exhibition Poster Every Day is running at Brusnitsyn Arts District, St. Petersburg, until the end of the summer. The project is curated by Anna Gerasimchuk, the graduate of Communication Design. Basic course, HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL.
