This page collects resources and information on Artistic Research in the Nordic countries and Globally. This resource seeks to give a historical overview of the development of Artistic Research as well as an overview of the many ways that this fields unfolds on a global stage. The page is a work in progress, always evolving alongside our discoveries of the many branches of this vast field.
Norway
In 2014 the National Council for Artistic Research, Norwegian Association of Higher Education Institutions, appointed a working group that produced a report about research and development in the Arts in Norway between 1995–2015.
The working group's mandate was to describe the relationship between artistic research and reflection; between artistic research and artistic practice, and the competence requirements of employees based on artistic qualifications. The group should also propose important specifications of which qualities artistic research brings to the field (‘what does artistic research do?’ – in contrast to ‘what is artistic research?’) and examine possible alternatives to the term ‘artistic research’ and assess the consequences of any changes.
In their report, the working group describes the development of Artistic Research in Norway and the influence from England ("Research and Development in the Arts 1995–2015: Twenty years of artistic research"): In the work on developing the Norwegian Artistic Research Fellowship Programme in 1999–2000 (from 2018 replaced by institutional PhD programs), Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London had considerable influence, because they so clearly stated art as a subject area that communicates in a peer context.
The Norwegian Artistic Research Programme was established in 2012, and had a national responsibility for stimulating Artistic Research in Norway. From 2012 untill 2023, when the program came to an end, The Norwegian Artistic Research Programme funded in total 64 projects. From 2024 the funding for artistic research was redirected to the Norwegian universities and university colleges in the Arts.
→ External page: Projects funded by the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme 2012-2023.
→ External page: Artistic Research in Norway - timeline
→ External page: Universities Norway UHR-Art, Design and Architecture
Sweden
The Swedish Research Council (VR) funds research in all fields of science, including artistic research. VR has a separate committee for artistic research that makes decisions on announcements and allocations within this subject area. VR is the only source of funding for artistic research in Sweden. There is a separate call for project grants, and the majority of the grants go to project support through this thematically open call. Support can also be sought through other support schemes, such as career support for people with a recent doctoral degree, exploratory workshops and communication activities with groups outside academia. In 2023, VR prepared a research review on artistic research. VR organize a yearly symposium on artistic research.
Artistic research can be found at universities such as Gothenburg, Lund (Malmø) and Luleå and at Konstfack, Uniarts and the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. CAPIm, esablished in 2024 with a grand from the Swedish Research Council, is the first Swedish centre of excellence in the field of artistic research.
The Artistic Faculty at the University of Gothenburg is Scandinavia's largest Academy of Arts. It runs PARSE, an open access, international artistic research publishing and biennal conference platform.
Uniart's international artistic research conference Alliances and Commonalities is happening every second year.
From the launche of VIS #7 at Tou Scene, Stavanger, 2022. Paola Torres Nunes Del Prado: The Sonified Textiles within the Text(il)ura Performance.
VIS – Nordic Journal for Artistic Research
VIS - Nordic Journal for Artistic Research is a digital open access journal presenting artistic research, with a special emphasis on the Nordic region. It highlights the importance for Nordic artist-researchers of reflection as a mental discipline that, when interwoven with artistic practice, generates new knowledge. The journal is the result of a cooperation between Stockholm University of the Arts (SKH) and the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme (part of Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills).
Finland
The Academy of Finland does not have its own programme for artistic research, but has various types of strategic grants for researchers, research groups or institutions. The academy has a research council for culture and society, and it also includes artistic research. The most important tool for the council is called Academy Contributions, which has thematic calls. The Academy provides competitive grants to strengthen the profile of the universities' research areas and grants for strategic research, cutting-edge research, flagships and infrastructure. There is no specific allocation for artistic research. There is a tradition in Finland for grants from private organizations for research. For art research, it can be from the Kone Foundation, the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Emil Aaltonen Foundation.
Uniarts in Helsinki and Aalto University are the most important institutions for artistic research.
Uniarts is running the artistic research journal RUUKKU, the Research Pavillion and the performing arts conference CARPA. Uniarts is coordinating the network for SAAR – Summer Academy for Artistic research.
Denmark
In Denmark, most art education is organised under the Ministry of Culture, which has a subsidy scheme (pool) for Artistic Research. The pool has a separate committee that distributes the funds. There are opportunities for funding from private organizations such as the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the New Carlsberg Foundation and the Augustinus Foundation. Three educational institutions for architecture and design are organized under the Ministry of Education and Research. These can apply for grants for research from this Ministry's grant schemes (the research reserve).
For a period until 2022, the Schools of Visual Arts had a centre with national responsibility for the development of artistic research. The centre was responsible for the grant funds and network gatherings for the Danish institutions. The centre has been closed down, but artistic research takes place at all institutions of arts education at university level and each institution has developed its own, discipline-based strategies for managing Artistic Research as part of their knowledge base. Below, you can read more about the strategies of the individual schools.
The Royal Danish Academy of Music: Artistic Research
The Rhythmic Music Conservatory: Research and development
The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts: About research
The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg: Research and Development
The Danish National School of Performing Arts: Artistic Research
Danish National Academy of Music: Research and Developmen
The National Film School of Denmark: Artistic research
Iceland
The Iceland University of the Arts is the only university dedicated to the arts in Iceland. It offers architecture, design, film, art education, fine arts and performing arts. Read more about their research.
A joint nordic Summer Academy for Artistic Research (SAAR)
SAAR – Summer Academy for Artistic research – has been functioning as a Nordic network since the year 2014. Partner universities from Sweden, Norway and Finland cooperate and take turns to host SAAR each year.
The Nordic summer academy provides a supportive setting where PhD candidates and research fellows in artistic research from all fields collaborate, present their on-going artistic research and receive feedback from peers and experienced tutors from leading academic art institutions. The aim is to reflect the international diversity and scope of artistic research and to provide a stimulating intellectual environment.
All research fellows participating in the Norwegian Artistic Research School are welcome to apply for participation in the summer academy. There is a call every spring.
In Europe, AEC, ELIA and SAR are the largest organisations with special activities connected to artistic research. In South Africa, the Wits School of Arts at the University of Witwatersrand has been an important driving force for artistic research. In the Asia Pacific an artistic research network was established in 2019 by the Centre of Visual Art at the University of Melbourne and the Indonesian Institute of the Arts Yogyakarta. Below you can read more about iniatives and organisations seeking to support and contribute to the development of artistic research globally.
The Norwegian Artistic Research Programme is a member of AEC, ELIA and SAR, as well as EUA Council for Doctoral Education, which is a network for doctoral education and research training within the European University Association.
Arts Research Africa (ARA)
In South Africa, the Arts Research Africa (ARA) project at Wits School of Arts, University of Witwatersrand (Johannesburg) has led to several activities designed to create dialogue, stimulate practice, enable research, and inspire collective engagement around the question of artistic research. The project has been funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. ARA has also supported the development of Ellipses, which is an online publication and peer-reviewed digital platform for the dissemination of artistic research. ARA has produced a number of podcasts that explore questions related to artistic research through dialogues with practitioners both in Africa and internationally.
In 2020, Witts University organized the ARA conference Artistic Research in Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa. In this reflection, the organization looks back and reflects on Artistic Research as a decolonising strategy in Africa.
The Asia Pacific Artistic Research Network (APARN)
The Asia Pacific Artistic Research Network (APARN) is an initiative from the Centre of Visual Art, University of Melbourne and the Indonesian Institute of the Arts Yogyakarta. The network aims to "connect researchers working in the broad domains of practice research or artistic research to others in the region, providing existing networks opportunities for visibility and regional connection". The inaugural meeting was held in October 2019 in association with the International Conference on Asia Pacific Arts Studies in Yogyakarta. The purposes of the network are to (as described on the webpage):
- Map artistic research initiatives and activities in the Asia Pacific region
- Provide a regional framework for practical collaboration between individuals and institutions
- Develop an understanding of local cultural dynamics influencing artistic research activities in the Asia Pacific region
Society for Artistic Research (SAR)
The European Society for Artistic Research (SAR) was established in 2010. SAR describes itself as an organization that `promotes practices of artistic research as undertaken both in and outside academic institutions´ and ´encourage risk-taking, quality research´. SAR has influenced the development of artistic research in Europe, through several initiatives:
- SAR publishes the JAR - Journal for Artistic Research (JAR), which is an international, online, Open Access and peer-reviewed journal that disseminates artistic research from all disciplines. The journal was launched in 2011, and you can take a look at Issue 1 here.
- SAR runs the Research Catalogue (RC), a non-commercial, collaboration and publishing platform for artistic research. The RC is free to use for artists and researchers. It serves also as a backbone for teaching purposes, student assessment, peer review workflows and research funding administration. It strives to be an open space for experimentation and exchange
- SAR hosts the annual International Conference on Artistic Research.
- SAR Special Interest Groups – SIGs with the aim of conducting a particular activity, theme or focus area
The Artistic Research Alliance
The Artistic Research Alliance has officially launched its statement (Leveraging the Full Potential of Artistic Research) in 2024. The alliance members represent all art practice disciplines:
- AEC - Association Europeenne des Conservatoires, Academies de Musique et Musikhochschulen (see also AECs European Platform for Artistic Research in Music, EPARM)
- CILECT - International Association of Cinema, Audiovisual and Media Schools
- CAE - Culture Action Europe
- EAAE - European Association for Architectural Education
- ELIA - Globally connected European network for higher arts education (see also ELIAs Artistic Research Platform)
- EQ-Arts - Independent, international Quality Assurance Agency for the Arts
- GEECT - European Grouping of Film and Television Schools
- MusiQuE - Music Quality Enhancement
- SAR - Society for Artistic Research
The 'Florence Principles' On the Doctorate of the Arts has been endorsed and supported by the Artistic Research Alliance.
So is also the Vienna Declaration on Artistic Research. The declaration aims at presenting a clearer, better articulation of the concepts and impact of Artisitc Research within the Frascati Manual - the OECD classification manual for collecting statistical research data.
The European Artistic Research Network (EARN)
The European Artistic Research Network (EARN) was formally established in 2006. The network was originally established through a series of meetings between 2004 and 2006, and for many years primarily based on the cooperation between a group of colleagues working across ten European art academies: EARN (as described on the webpage) was established "to share and exchange knowledge and experience in artistic research; foster mobility, exchange and dialogue among artist researchers; promote wider dissemination of artistic research; and enable global connectivity and exchange for artistic research. (...) Throughout the 2010s the (...) key task of the group during this period was to advocate for forms of research and enquiry realised within and through artistic practices, and to provide various platforms to profile these. (...). However, since 2020 the agenda for EARN has evolved. There is now a new approach to cooperation and co-development of research through thematic working groups; a new emphasis on active research generation; and a process of expanding membership (beyond any provincial boundaries imagined as ‘Europe’)". (...).
The network is not limited by a single model of artistic research, but states that they are "based on a pragmatic recognition that research which entails actual practice within the arts is a specific and dynamic space of cultural creativity. This allows of a range of models, interpretations and paradigms (practice-led research, practice-based research, art research, research in and through the arts, etc.) while establishing a shared core concern with research grounded in actual art practices". The network seeks to explore different conceptions and modalities of artistic research and to enable exchange and critical dialogue across these different paradigms.
In 2021, the Postresearch Condition conference considered the need to renew the terms of engagement after a “research decade” which saw some versions of artistic research becoming mainstreamed. The conference website announced that: ..."it is important to start from the three conceptual spaces that fundamentally determine what we mean by research: creative practice (experimentality, art making, potential of the sensible); artistic thinking (open-ended, speculative, associative, non-linear, haunting, thinking differently); and curatorial strategies (topical modes of political imagination, transformational spaces for encounters, reflection and dissemination) – and to comprehend these spaces in their mutual, dynamic coherence as a series of indirect triangular relationships".
Artistic Intelligence - Responsiveness, accessibility, responsibility, equity
This COST Action explores value propositions based on the data, information and knowledge that emerge from the relationships between artistic research projects, research practices, and research cultures. The Action responds to the lack of common standards, challenging isolated, non-referenced research processes across the arts and culture. The porject is running until 2028, and you can apply to join their working groups. Read more: ARTinRARE
The conditions for financing and organisation of artistic research and doctoral educations in the field differ in Europe
- Austria is one of the countries in front with the PEEK programme, as part of the Austrien Science Fund (FWF). In Vienna, University of Applied Arts Vienna, The Angevante, is running the journal reposition.
- The universitites in the Netherlands have been central in developing artistic research in Europe and the startup of the Research Catalogue was financed by a grant fron the Dutch Research Council NWO.
- The Orpheus Institute, founded in 1996 in Ghent, Belgium, is an international centre of excellence with its primary focus on artistic research in music.
- The Berlin Artistic Research Programme supports and encourages artistic research across disciplines and dialogue between the artists and their projects. The programme was created in 2020 by the Society for Artistic Research in Germany. There is artistic research and 3rd cycle education at a growing number of institutions in Germany.
- In Italy new projects and networks are established, like EAR and IartNet.
- All institutions in the Czeck Republic have joined the Research Catalogue.
- In Switzerland there is the SARN network and the ZHDK in Zurich has been central in several European networks.
- Institutions in th UK are members of several network organisations. Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funds outstanding original research across the whole range of the arts and humanities.
- In Portugal, i2ADS – Research Institute in Art, Design and Society, runs the journal HUB.
Other European initiatives and projects
- The Creator Doctus project made a Database on 3rd cycle awards in Europe.
- Advancing Supervision for Artistic Research Doctorates is a strategic partnership prosjekt co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme. A number of tools and resources developed as a contribution to the discussion around the question of supervision in artistic doctorates.
- Artistic Research in Music – an Introduction is a free online course (MOOC) curated by the Orpheus Institute. The course offers an introduction to relevant research tools, techniques, and methodologies as well as the key concepts of artistic research in music.
- The SHARE network is an international networking project comprising 39 partners from across Europe working together on enhancing the 3rd cycle of arts research and education in Europe
- Artistic Doctorates in Europe (ADiE) is a partnership with eight organizations from across the UK and Scandinavia that seeks to support, substantiate and enhance the delivery and impact of the third cycle provision in Dance and Performance degrees. The webpage includes resources and case studies.
- In.Tune is a European Alliance of 8 academic partners within music education and research.
- The EU4Arts is a European Alliance of 4 academic partners within fine arts.
- PACESETTERS will develop a model to boost artistic and creative entrepreneurship acresso sectors.
- See the project portal on Research Catalgue for more initiatives.
- Creative skills week, and the Creative Pact for skills