Why Are Artist-Researchers Better Storytellers? From Textbook to Artist’s Book to Performative Publishing - Forum at Vilnius Academy of Arts

Vilnius Academy of Arts (VDA) invites you to the Forum

“Why Are Artist-Researchers Better Storytellers?
From Textbook to Artist’s Book to Performative Publishing”
November 27–28, 2025, Vilnius Academy of Arts

The forum takes place within the research exhibition Compo(s)t and Detritus, showcasing the work of doctoral students in the arts.

Artists, philosophers, art historians, and sociologists will gather around one table and inside the exhibition to discuss questions such as:

• Do artists produce knowledge when they tell convincing stories?
• Are artists better storytellers than other researchers?
• What are the five generations (5G) and five cultures of doctoral theses in the arts?
• Are philosophers artist-researchers too?
• How can research be performed in space and in text?
• What is the role of other research modes in the social, natural, and human sciences in relation to artistic research—are they allies or competitors?
• Is artistic research (still) a counter-mode or counter-discipline to scientific research?

Participants: Aldis Gedutis, Arnas Anskaitis, David Maroto, Irina Gheorghe, Jan Georg Glöckner, Jelena Škulis, Julijonas Urbonas, Kęstas Kirtiklis, Marquard Smith, Mika Elo, Miki Ambrozy & Sophie Durand, Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian, Oleksandra Nenko, Sara Bédard-Goulet & Otso Aavanranta, Vytautas Michelkevičius.

Curator / Moderator Vytautas Michelkevičius.

We have lived through fifteen intensive and dynamic years of doctoral education in the arts in Lithuania, and now is a good moment to pause, reflect on what has happened, and rewind time in order to review, propose, and even forecast possible futures. Although this period has been relatively short, we can already identify at least three generations of PhD/DA cultures. How do these generations situate themselves within the broader context of other modes of research, as well as art, design, and architecture practices beyond academia?

Fifteen years of experience in preparing artists as researchers within third-cycle education at VDA has both empowered them and legitimized diverse modes of storytelling, writing, and publishing. In recent years, it is no longer surprising when a doctoral thesis reads more like a novel than an art historian’s account. Are we approaching a time when, during the final defence (Viva Voce), an artist might present nothing but their artwork?

The forum will also introduce other perspectives on artistic research — from the French-Canadian concept of Research-Creation to the Nordic artwork-in-the-front thesis model. The event will not only host traditional presentations but will also experiment with various modes of knowledge exchange: heated panel discussions, performative sessions, conversations with artworks, coffee breaks, intellectual dining feasts, (in)formal (not)working, and more.

These diverse participation formats are supported by the equally diverse architecture of VDA. The main events will take place in exhibition spaces, while others will unfold in Gothic and Baroque vaulted halls and research laboratories.

The forum will conclude with the public defence (Viva Voce) of artist and designer Julijonas Urbonas, presenting his doctoral thesis “Gravitational Aesthetics” in front of a committee of five members.

Full program of the forum.

Participation is free of charge. Please register with subject line "I join the forum" by November 25^th at vytautas.michelkevicius@vda.lt, so that we can ensure there are enough coffee cups for everyone.

The forum will be hosted inside the Research exhibition Compo(s)t and Detritus which brings together 19 doctoral candidates from Vilnius Academy of Arts. These practice-based researchers come from the fields of fine art, design, and architecture.

Compost can be both an epistemological and aesthetic model, where the researcher is not a neutral observer but an active participant—one who connects the old and the new, thought and matter. Through the composting of knowledge and practice, disciplinary boundaries begin to dissolve, theories intertwine with sensations, and texts transform into textures. In this way, artistic research becomes a living ecosystem, in which processes of decay turn into acts of generation, and temporality itself becomes a productive state.

Compost is a living, ever-changing formation—akin to the processes of artistic research. It emerges through decay, layering, and mutual transformation, as texts, ideas, and experiments act as a nourishing medium for new ways of thinking. The composting cycle serves as a living metaphor for the progression of artistic research, where each stage reflects a distinct phase of inquiry, reflection, or creative work.

This exhibition, organized by doctoral students at Vilnius Academy of Arts, offers an opportunity to explore these visible and invisible connections. As manifold practices and individual trajectories of inquiry intersect, they reveal the coexistence and diversity of unifying problematic fields.

Exhibition runs until 6^th of December, 2025 at Exhibition space “Titanikas” in Vilnius, Lithuania,  Maironio st. 3.

Forum is organised by VDA Doctoral Department with the help of VDA NEB research center and Nordic-Baltic Transdisciplinary Research-Creation Network.