Research Catalogue

Joining the Forces - Methodologies of Sustainable Transcultural Artistic Research Johannes Kretz (University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna) Today, many traditional musical practices are threatened with imminent extinction for various reasons, such as the loss of (indigenous) languages, or the pressure coming from an imbalance of power vis-à-vis a more or less globalized music industry. Even contemporary academic composition can be counted among the endangered traditions, even if it is still somehow "artificially kept alive" to varying degrees in different countries. Therefore, the idea of joining the forces of creativity could be meaningful, to support the solidarity between (artistic) minorities in the widest sense, to gain importance in a world of strongly commercialized cultural life, and to redefine aesthetic and social categories. Since 2007 through various projects and initiatives new formats of transcultural artistic research have been developed at mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna by Johannes Kretz, Wei-Ya Lin and Hande Sağlam. The collaboration between members of the indigenous community of the Tao on Lanyu island, Taiwan and composers, musicians and ethnomusicologists from Austria within the project “creative (mis)understandings” developed new transcultural approaches of inspiration (seen as mutually appreciated intentional and reciprocal artistic influence based on solidarity). “Confusing Inspiration” is a teaching format, confronting students of composition and improvising instrumentalists with places, communities and music practices outside of their comfort zone to widen the perspective of their artistic and intellectual concepts and to establish forms of understanding and collaboration. The underlying concepts of both projects aim to encourage communities to engage in unexpected alliances. Beyond that – with regard to sustainability – one has to ask, whether some impulses of this collaborations will continue and propagate in the respective communities. And: can these concepts of transcultural artistic research be extended to a making-with and becoming- with (in the sense of Donna Haraway), which can include – in a similarly mindful and respectful reciprocal way – not only humans from – very – different communities, but also non-humans? In times where climate change and environmental destruction are obvious threats to everybody on this planet, can (local) knowledge holders of indigenous and non-indigenous communities together with artists and researchers contribute sustainable approaches by questioning the demarcation between culture and nature?

This project combines artistic and anthropological research on spontaneous gardening in open public space, predominantly in Brno, CZ. The team, mostly comprising recent graduates and graduate students of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Brno University of Technology, chose gardens and plantings which were, in most cases, rather exceptional. Unlike most typical front gardens, the ones in this study are somehow peculiar, due to their location, their composition and planting schemes, their scale, or methods of those who garden there. The anthropologists on the team analyzed a Facebook group dedicated to street gardening and conducted several interviews, while the artistic team responded to particular places with which they interacted. Some results of this research have been presented to the public in the form of an application comprising an audioguide and an interactive map; this exposition in the Journal of Artistic Research documents some of these findings. The team Barbora Lungová is a visual artist and has taught at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Brno University of Technology since 2007. Her field of practice is painting and art projects focusing on plants, gardening, and queerness. She is the coordinator of the Partisans with a Hoe project. Lucia Bergamaschi is a visual artist working across the media of photography, sound, and installation. She earned an MA in Fine Art at Università Iuav di Venezia and an MA in Law at Università di Bologna. She is currently finishing her MA studies at the FFA BUT. Nela Maruškevičová combines painting, installations, and glass in her artistic practice. She is a 2023 graduate of the FFA BUT. Kateřina Konvalinová is a visual artist interested in the overlapping spaces of art, communal life, farming, and ritual. She earned her MA in Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, and is currently a doctoral student at the FFA BUT. Iva Balcaříková is a graphic designer and a member of the team behind the curated audio walks created by Galerie Art in Brno. She is currently finishing her MA studies at the FFA BUT. Hana Drštičková is a visual artist and a social anthropologist interested in environmental and queer topics. She graduated with an MA in Fine Arts from the FFA BUT in 2022 and with a BA in social anthropology from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Masaryk University and is currently a doctoral student at the Gender Studies Department of Charles University in Prague. Anastasia Blokhina is a social anthropologist who graduated with an MA tfrom the Faculty of Social Sciences of Masaryk University in 2022. Polyna Davydenko is a photographer and a video artist who documents social and environmental issues in her work, most recently those connected with the war in Ukraine. Filip Dušek is a media artist who studied at the Department of Photography at the FFA BUT. The project was conducted under the Specific Research FaVU-S-23-8441 Program.

The aim of this artistic research project is to create an illustrated VR documentary experience that narrates the story of a time witness from the second world war in Bodø, Norway. The project explores questions concerning visual storytelling and ethics in the encounter between the VR-audience, interviewed subjects and the audiovisual spatial design. Artistic and qualitative research methods have been employed to explore how different visual modes and contexts alter the experience of narrator(Time witness) and narrative in a media format characterized by its ability to place the viewer in a state of immersion, intimacy, and a sense of presence. Theoretically, this study is situated in an artistic landscape connected to media theory, journalism, ethics and visual communication. Concepts such as media witness ethics, with the so-called risk of improper distance and considerations around the term distant others, are relevant for the reflection associated with the project.

This video article presents two pedagogical applications of the artistic research project "Expanding Horizons" for ensembles with adult music students of diverse musical backgrounds. The project is centered around practical explorations of applying improvisation to repertoire from 20th-century Western classical music, in combination with qualitative methods such as autoethnography, participant-observation and semi-structured interviews. The examples in the video demonstrates how approaches that are developed in the project can be applied to pedagogical situations, based on ensemble workshops with musicians of different musical orientations enrolled in music performance programmes in Sweden, one with university-level students in a bachelor programme and another with students at a folk high school. Two pieces were selected and adapted for these situations: Lili Boulanger’s Cortége (1914) and Maurice Ravel’s String quartet in F, movement II (1903). During the workshops, these pieces were then re-worked in a collaborative manner, with an emphasis on mutual exploration and musical expressivity through improvisation. The main pedagogical considerations were: selecting the appropriate repertoire, adapting materials for diverse learners, and fostering agency among performers. Although the improvisational approaches presented are rooted in jazz performance practice, the examples demonstrate how improvisational frameworks can be adapted for music students across musical genres, showcasing the potential for creativity, collaboration and interdisciplinary learning in music education.

This exposition explores the following question: How might an analysis be done in post-qualitative inquiry and performative approaches? Considering that post-qualitative inquiry rejects pre-existing research designs, methods, processes, procedures, or practices, and acknowledging that a research process will unfold and materialize differently in different projects, my aim is to explore one possible approach to analysis. This approach explored herein is specific to my PhD project. At the same time, I invite you to re-turn (to) the pieces you find fruitful and adjust them to your research. The research material being analyzed in this exposition is informed by my PhD project, which explores what might materialize in the matter of digital musicking when a loop station and 1–3-year-olds meet each other in a kindergarten context. Exploring how an analysis might be done in post-qualitative inquiry and performative approaches, and as the title plays on, the method of analyze is with the arts and take an arts-based approach. This exposition contributes to the fields of early childhood music education, post-qualitative and performative inquiry, and arts-based research. This exposition is included in the anthology "Utfordringer og muligheter innen musikk og utdanning", or "Challenges and Opportunities in Music and Education" in Enlgish. The anthology is published as part of MusPed:Research by the Cappelen Damm Academic publishing house. MusPed:Research is a peer-reviewed series of scholarly publications within the field of music pedagogy. The anthology, of which this exposition is a part, has been peer-reviewed, and this extends to this exposition as well.

Visual analysys of a lawn in a public and private space as a universally understood image of wealth , leisure , minimalist aesthetic