Research Catalogue

A 2-part module by the MA Transdisciplinary Studies of ZHdK, Department Kulturanalysen und Vermittlung. Held by Anna Rubi & Eirini Sourgiadaki. Autumn 2023-Spring 2024 Colour perception varies, so do the semantics of colour terminology, for both sighted and blind individuals. The questions around colour perception from ophthalmology or neurobiology perspectives to cognitive and artistic ones, are infinite: Is there a universal human experience of the blue sky, the green grass and the brown soil? How is colour perceived in the brain, how is it translated into a communicable concept and how does it affect our perceived world, our mental and physical state? What is the role of colour in synesthesia? And most importantly, does colour have to do just with vision? In this module we work with the generation of blue colour on print, using the major light source available, the Sun. The Island of Amorgos is often referred to as “Le grand bleu” after the famous french film was shot at location. Its ancient name is “Melania”. “Melani”, the Greek word for ink, (“Melano” for dark blue, cyan) as it is said that in ancient times the place was covered with dark green flora. Our investigation begins exactly with this deep tint. We pay a visit to the famous monastery and the water oracle, walk the trails to observe the sensual -not only vision-based- shades of blue. In the spring term, we participate in local activities such as beach clean-up initiatives of the remote bays by local fishermen and their boats. We visit bee-hives and herb-distilleries, we work with the most basic bits and pieces of the island to capture its essence.

The Birdsong Trilogy is inspired by the playing and singing life of birds. Teater Fot has created three worlds of birdlife, Sparrow, Nightingale & Woodpecker, where the children are allowed, in different ways, to take part in the theatre, dance and music. Verbal language is not in focus, rather the language of listening, movement and music. Audience participation is adjusted to the needs of the different age groups and their specific play culture. This does not always mean bodily interaction, but rather that contact and communicative musicality is attended to. The questions of social relations and interactions in art and with children have been discussed throughout the whole project. The Birdsong Trilogy was coproduced with the regional theatre Trøndelag Teater in 2012, and Sparrow have toured internationally (America, China, South Africa, Italy, Finland). Teater Fot has been one of five companies to take part in the artistic research project SceSam - Interactive dramaturgies in performing arts for children (scesam.no), from 2012-16. Read more about The SceSam artistic research project, including The Birdsong Trilogy: Nagel, L., & Hovik, L. (2016). The SceSam Project – Interactive dramaturgies in performing arts for children. Youth Theatre Journal, 30 (2), 1-22. doi: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08929092.2016.1225611 Hovik, Lise (2015). Din lytting skal være din sang. Om inntoning, lytting og interaktivitet i scenekunst for små barn. I Strømsøe & Hammer (red.) Drama og skapende prosesser i barnehagen. Fagbokforlaget. (193-209).

Professional Doctorate in Arts + Creative is an educational pilot program in The Netherlands for an advanced degree in universities of applied sciences. The PD program at an university of applied sciences is developed to train an investigative professional. This portal is a platform for publishing artistic research generated by the PD candidates. Within the Professional Doctorate program, this portal will also be used as an internal tool for documentation.

The project Mediation as Discipline is an attempt to build bridges between disciplines and make the experience-based knowledge that the contemporary art field can offer relevant to a broader academic community. At the same time, it is an investigation of needs within the field itself, which should be served by a university that prides itself on having an artistic faculty. This report, carrying the same name as the project, is based on a comprehensive survey among contemporary art mediators conducted in 2024 by the project group, and it examines the foundation for specialised education for mediators of contemporary art in Norway.

The collaborative process that has fostered the texts in this anthology started with two questions: What does it mean to be a curator who writes, and, more specifically, how can curators write about textiles? Curatorial practices vary just as much as do curators’ interest in and capacity for writing. At the same time, there are prevailing opinions about, and institutional demands on, what kinds of texts curators should provide for audiences, for instance as contributions to art discourses in the form of catalogue essays and the like. The Community of Writers was set up to create time and space to retreat from these outside opinions and demands and to let curiosity and the joy of writing be the driving forces of the writing process. I have had the pleasure of leading this process and am indebted to the individuals who formed the Community of Writers for newfound insights into textile art and the role of textiles in society. The writing process challenged the contributors’ own writing practices, sparked their enthusiasm, playfulness and criticality pushed the project further. Our conversations have deepened and become more entangled over time, and the reader can find traces of this in the texts in this volume.

This exposition traces the development of a reflective arts and health practice during 2025. It brings together short written episodes, visual documentation, audio notes, and process materials to examine how artists make sense of the emotional, relational, and practical demands of working in care-based and community settings. The work sits alongside a written PDF and expands on it by presenting the reflections in a non-linear, multimodal format suited to artistic research.