Research Catalogue

The phenomena within this research is performance artwork, containing performance documentation from the previous artist’s performances. The research outlines the necessity to lessen the gap between the live and documented performing body on the one side, and enhance the emotional and empathic connections with the viewers of the documentation within an artwork on the other side. The research task is to define the main key points of interconnectedness between layering within the performance artwork, containing performance documentation and empathic connections-building with the spectators of performance documentations integrated into the new performance. The research question is: How layering impacts multileveledness of perception of the performance artwork, containing documentation from previous performances? The main concepts are documentation, layering, multileveledness and participatory performance. The main research results are: the cyclic aspect of layering; the gap between the live and documented body in performance can be narrowed by the involvement of biometric data as one of the layers in documentation; layering is connected to multilevelendess of access and emotional and empathic response to the content of documentation by the viewers. The research results can be used by performance artists, performance scholars and those involved in performance art education.

The study explores the connectedness of the narrative of the artwork to the sociopolitical contexts of the public space in change. Through the reflexive artistic research within the project “Construction” I aim to discuss how Memory is bound to the Body. I investigate how Constructs of the public space embody the Memory and how demolishing of those constructs impact the narrative of the presence within absence.

This research investigates the visual narrative built within artworks that deal with colonial memory in Sapmi, and the heavy layers of history in the Baltics, particularly Lithuania during the Soviet era. The research question is: How can themes of Gulag, colonial history and traumatic transgenerational memory be addressed by the artists and by curators in large-scale exhibitions and art venues? The aim of this study is to examine how visual expression is aesthetically communicated by the artists, how their artworks are presented in exhibitions and media channels, and how they are received by audiences. The study examines four cases: artworks and projects by two Sami artists and two Lithuanian artists. The research is conducted as artistic research, where the author acts as the artist, curator, and spectator of the artworks being analyzed. The author has been actively involved in the creative curatorial processes, including designing the curatorial setup of the Sami artists' artworks for their audience. The comparative analysis of the visual expression is done through the reflexive tools of the author. The study's findings provide an outline of the tools that artists use within their artworks, as well as the curatorial strategies applied when presenting those artworks to audiences.

The current research builds on exhibitions hosted by the Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art in Karasjok in 2023. These exhibitions featured Indigenous Sámi artists, involving both curators and non-Indigenous art managers and facilitators. Some projects showcased solo exhibitions by Sámi artists, while others adopted the format of exhibitions based on the RidduDuottar Museum Collection in Karasjok. The study aims to uncover the primary methods of facilitation and the application of love and care in creating spaces for interaction between artists, artworks, and audiences at the Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art. First, the cases are presented, followed by an analysis applying two keywords – facilitation and love. The research method employed is arts-based research. The data consist of visual data in the form of photo documentation and text-based data in the form of notes. The data are approached through reflexive analysis. The analysis of these cases delves into the concept of love, containing sub-concepts such as care, compassion, and empathy. The findings yield key recommendations that facilitators of artistic gatherings can implement in art galleries presenting Indigenous Sámi art.

The SIG Facilitating took shape at the 2023 SAR Conference in Trondheim, after observing over an extended time how frequently artists, artistic researchers and even policy makers refer to facilitation when describing interactions with audiences, communities and research partners. Finding ways to examine such facilitating processes is crucial to the work under way. We know that facilitating practices exist widely in interactive and community based art, and in theater and the performing arts, for example using games, props and improvisation. There are intersections with pedagogy and professional facilitation and coaching, with at least the latter understood as prizing outcomes over processes. The SIG Facilitating asks: What does it mean to facilitate as part of artistic research? Why is this focus emerging now? How are we drawing on a greater web? Organized by Marija Griniuk, Postdoctoral researcher at Vilnius Academy of Arts and Adelheid Mers, Professor, School of the Art Institute of Chicago (coordinator). Contact: sigfacilitating@gmail.com

SIG 8: Facilitating as Creative Practice The SIG Facilitating as Creative Practice took shape at the 2023 SAR Conference in Trondheim, having noted how frequently artists, artistic researchers and even policy makers refer to facilitation when describing interactions with peers, communities and research partners. At our inaugural meeting at the SAR Forum in Tilburg in 2024, contributors moreover shared a realization that facilitating asserted itself at a central position in our practices, even before we recognized and named it. Facilitating practices can be identified widely in interactive and community-based art, and in theater and the performing arts, for example using games, props and improvisation. There are intersections with pedagogy and didactics, with professional facilitation and coaching, and with therapeutic work. In comparing notes, we find that we locate facilitating in conjunction with ethics and agency, with vulnerability, joy and communitas. What does it mean to facilitate in the context of artistic research? How is facilitating integral to designing and conducting studies and research in the sciences and humanities? What is the role of a facilitator? Who agrees to participate in a facilitation setting, and why? Can facilitation be embedded in an object, a structure, a notation, or an algorithm? Which literatures and theories, which artistic practices are currently being articulated? Why is this focus emerging now? How are we drawing on a greater web? Organized by Adelheid Mers, Marija Griniuk, and Fabrício Fava