2026 Symposium What Methods Do

What Methods Do is an international symposium dedicated to the nature of methods in artistic research and their role in the production of knowledge and the agency of art in a societal context.

Building upon the insights of its first edition in 2024, What Methods Do 2026 will focus on how methods are useful, how they operate and what can be learned from their application across a broad range of artistic research contexts.

In a series of sessions spread throughout the day, internationally active artist researchers will present the methods they have developed, share documentation from their practices and engage in dialogue with invited respondents and the participating audience. The 2026 symposium poses an understanding of methods as situated and specific. Methods imply a who, a where, and a when, but more fundamentally, they exist within singular constellations of actors.

Rather than conceived of as procedures or routines, methods are understood as strategies: they do not assume a pre-defined ground on which to act but actively re-distribute the components they engage with. The symposium will be articulated in four sessions addressing different modes of practice, under the titles: Choreographies, Genealogies, Communities and Infrastructures.

Framed as an active hub for exchange, the symposium will offer a space for collective discussion, reflection, and the articulation of multiple perspectives on the role and nature of methods in artistic research.

Practical Information
Date: Tuesday 24 March 2026
Time: 9:45-18:15 hrs.
Location: BAK Basecamp, Utrecht

Register now via the Online Form 

Visit whatmethodsdo.com for updates and further information. The complete programme will be published soon.