Research Catalogue

This project combines artistic and anthropological research on spontaneous gardening in open public space, predominantly in Brno, CZ. The team, mostly comprising recent graduates and graduate students of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Brno University of Technology, chose gardens and plantings which were, in most cases, rather exceptional. Unlike most typical front gardens, the ones in this study are somehow peculiar, due to their location, their composition and planting schemes, their scale, or methods of those who garden there. The anthropologists on the team analyzed a Facebook group dedicated to street gardening and conducted several interviews, while the artistic team responded to particular places with which they interacted. Some results of this research have been presented to the public in the form of an application comprising an audioguide and an interactive map; this exposition in the Journal of Artistic Research documents some of these findings. The team Barbora Lungová is a visual artist and has taught at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Brno University of Technology since 2007. Her field of practice is painting and art projects focusing on plants, gardening, and queerness. She is the coordinator of the Partisans with a Hoe project. Lucia Bergamaschi is a visual artist working across the media of photography, sound, and installation. She earned an MA in Fine Art at Università Iuav di Venezia and an MA in Law at Università di Bologna. She is currently finishing her MA studies at the FFA BUT. Nela Maruškevičová combines painting, installations, and glass in her artistic practice. She is a 2023 graduate of the FFA BUT. Kateřina Konvalinová is a visual artist interested in the overlapping spaces of art, communal life, farming, and ritual. She earned her MA in Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, and is currently a doctoral student at the FFA BUT. Iva Balcaříková is a graphic designer and a member of the team behind the curated audio walks created by Galerie Art in Brno. She is currently finishing her MA studies at the FFA BUT. Hana Drštičková is a visual artist and a social anthropologist interested in environmental and queer topics. She graduated with an MA in Fine Arts from the FFA BUT in 2022 and with a BA in social anthropology from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Masaryk University and is currently a doctoral student at the Gender Studies Department of Charles University in Prague. Anastasia Blokhina is a social anthropologist who graduated with an MA tfrom the Faculty of Social Sciences of Masaryk University in 2022. Polyna Davydenko is a photographer and a video artist who documents social and environmental issues in her work, most recently those connected with the war in Ukraine. Filip Dušek is a media artist who studied at the Department of Photography at the FFA BUT. The project was conducted under the Specific Research FaVU-S-23-8441 Program.

This exposition documents my explorations of pondering with pine trees. Tämä ekspositio dokumentoi yritykseni miettiä mäntyjen kanssa. Den här ekspositionen dokumenterar mina försök att fundera med furor.

This thesis is an autoethnographic exploration into the nature of artistic identity, resilience, and cultural memory informed by my journey as a Palestinian musician and artist navigating the interplay of music-making, identity, and political turmoil. Through collaborations with artists across cultures, improvisational methods, and engaging with diverse musical practices, I draw on the approaches of artistic research to investigate the emotional and cultural dynamics of an identity that both endures and transforms inherited struggles. The heart of this work lies in a continuous dialogue between the self, the collective, and sound—a triad that reveals layers of creativity and survival intertwined within my identity. This research comprises original compositions, interviews, and collaborations with Palestinian and international artists, resulting in a diverse soundscape where tradition and innovation coexist. Working with the qanun and other instruments, I aim to reflect on my own experiences and the collective history of the Palestinian people. The research culminates in performances that offer glimpses of hope, humanity, and connection, framed within the broader context of Palestinian artistry in a world that frequently dismisses or deliberately denies its existence. Ultimately, this thesis questions and redefines what it means to be a creator in a world marked by systematic erasure. It proposes that artistic expression can be a means of reclaiming one's voice, a way of confronting the fragmentation imposed upon an identity. In exploring how music becomes a pathway to the inner self, a bridge to ancestral memory, and a gesture of solidarity, I hope to illuminate the essential human drive for expression and the enduring will to survive.

Operating at the intersection of fine art walking practice, psychogeography, critical animal studies and ecology, the practice of Deep Canine Topography seeks to reframe the humble act of the ‘walkies’ as a co-authored act of ‘making’ or ‘performing’ together. As part of the practice based element of my PhD thesis, Deep Canine Topography, 10 - 10 - 10 Edge-lands, is a further investigation of the methodologies of Deep Canine Topography (O'Brien & O'Brien 2018). This series operates as a visual and sonic essay for each walk and explores memory, deep topographical imprints, and entropy between wild and post-industrial spaces and sub-urban sprawl, on the edge of the city of Leicester and the county of Leicestershire. During the 2020 Covid 19 pandemic lockdown, as part of permitted exercise, we undertook 10 Walks, of up to 10 miles, within a 10 mile circle of our home, just outside of the city centre. Covid 19 restrictions, remained in place in Leicester longer than in any other UK city or region. Each title will take you to a different walk. Click return to return to the title page. Click Base Map to open a GoogleMap of the walk locations and GPS tracklogs (in a new window). Clicking on the round MAP circle, on the title page, will take you to the central exposition of my PhD: Deep Canine Topography.

Operating at the intersection of fine art walking practice, psychogeography, critical animal studies and ecology, the practice of Deep Canine Topography seeks to reframe the humble act of the ‘walkies’ as a co-authored, multi-species act of ‘making’ and ‘performing’ together. This exposition operates as a central point from which to explore a number of mini expositions, undertaken as part of my practice based PhD. Instruction: When you arrive at the page you can use the map legends as hyperlinks to navigate to random points, or the mouse/trackpad to move around the page. Alternatively, you can navigate the page via the page map in the collapsible header menu. An accompanying soundscape will automatically play throughout and documents a single walk from the human sonic POV. You can leave this to play whilst exploring the canine POV videos or pause it if you wish. Click on the videos to play and again to stop. You can play more than one at a time. X returns to the map. This central Exposition acts as a meeting point through which to explore various experiments in Deep Canine Topography. Titled hyperlinks navigate to individual mini expositions. Each mini exposition has a route back to the landing page via the round MAP link. You may feel lost or disorientated at times, but don't worry, this is all part of the process of navigation and hopefully offers a playful interactive and performative meander. PLEASE WEAR HEADPHONES: Headphones are advised throughout to explore the immersive sonic elements of some of the practice encounters.

This exposition presents the PhD Artistic Research project environment embodiment - towards poetic narratives by Fernanda Branco at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (2020-2024). This artistic research explores experiential agency in encounters between body and environment. It draws from uncanny, embodied, and poetic perspectives and unfolds as a constellation of sympoietic practices. PhD Supervisors: Rebecca Hilton - Stockholm University of the Arts (2021-2024) Gunhild Mathea Olaussen - KHiO (2021-2022) Dora Garcia - KHiO (2023-2024) Fernanda Branco has designed this exposition in collaboration with web designer Ellen Palmeira. Illustrations by Aza Drawings by Francisco Blixt Cards and booklets designed by Amanda Costa