THEORIES AND PRACTICES OF CONTEMPORARY ARTISTIC RESEARCH
A TRANSDISCIPLINARY APPROACH
INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR
March 18-19 2025
Brera Academy of Fine Arts
Sala Napoleonica
Via Brera 28, Milan
Brera Academy of Fine Arts announces the international seminar Theories and practices of contemporary artistic research: a transdisciplinary approach, curated by Domenico Quaranta, which will be held at the Sala Napoleonica of the Brera Palace on March 18-19 2025.
The event marks the launch of the project IartNET - an international platform for artistic research and cultural heritage in Higher Education in the Arts and Music, funded by NextGenerationEU and coordinated by Nicoletta Leonardi.
Following the establishment of doctoral programs at Italian higher arts education institutions in 2024, the seminar addresses artistic research from a transdisciplinary perspective across different genres and media, responding to the need for discussions and exchange on ideas, methodologies, and practices of artistic research at an international level.
The Opening Keynote is by Giovanna Cassese, President of the National Council for the Arts and Music Education (CNAM).
Panel 1, chaired by Domenico Quaranta, is devoted to contemporaneity, interpreted not only as a mere temporal designation, but also as a condition marked by states of emergency and the impact of global information technologies on our perception of temporality. The panel concludes with a discussion on the role of contemporary art and art institutions in the storytelling economy of the Post-Truth era. Speakers: Leevi Haapala, Jacob Lund, Santiago Zabala.
Panel 2, chaired by Eva Frapiccini, addresses current practice-based artistic research vis-à-vis the institutional frameworks in which this is developed across disciplines, from the visual arts to dance and music. Speakers: Samuel Bianchini, Elena Cologni, Leonella Grasso Caprioli, Rosita Mariani, Akram Zaatari.
Panel 3, chaired by Leonella Scacco, focuses on some key issues in contemporary artistic research, including the relations among humans, other living organisms, and machines, the impact of automation and artificial intelligence on contemporary artistic practices, sustainability and the care for the common good in design and architecture. Speakers: Kristin Bergaust, Fosbury Architecture, Antonio Somaini.
In the Closing Keynote, Johan A. Haarberg, Executive Officer of the Society for Artistic Research (SAR), will discuss the challenges facing artistic research within the academic context and its overall acceptance as a valid part of knowledge production in Europe and beyond.
Following his speech, Haarberg will lead a workshop on the Research Catalogue – a non-commercial, collaborative and publishing platform provided by SAR to artists and researchers. The workshop is open to faculty members, researchers, and doctoral students.
The seminar will be held in hybrid form. A live streaming will be available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@iartnetpnrr
Attendants can register on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.it/e/theories-and-practices-of-contemporary-artistic-research-tickets-1277802845709.
For more information on the seminar and/or the workshop please write to iartnet@fadbrera.edu.it.
PROGRAMME
DAY 1
11.15-11.45 Guests Welcome
11.45-12.00 Opening Remarks
Michele Mazzola, Executive Officer, Office III - Internationalization of research, Directorate General of Internationalization and Communication, Ministry of University and Research (MUR)
Franco Marrocco, Dean of Brera Academy of Fine Arts
Martina Corgnati, Head of Research, Brera Academy of Fine Arts
Nicoletta Leonardi, IartNET Project Coordinator, Brera Academy of Fine Arts
12.00-13.00 Opening Keynote
Giovanna Cassese, President of the National Council of Higher Arts and Music Education, Ministry of University and Research
The paradox of artistic research
13.00-14.30 Lunch Break
14.30-16.00 Panel 1 | Defining Contemporaneity
Chair: Domenico Quaranta, Brera Academy of Fine Arts
Jacob Lund, Aarhus University
Art in contemporary conditions
Santiago Zabala, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona
Why art can save us through emergencies
Leevi Haapala, University of the Arts, Helsinki
Contemporaneity, storytelling and the power of art in the Post-truth era
16.00-16.30 Coffee Break
16.30-19.00 Panel 2 | Contemporary Artistic Research Practices
Chair: Eva Frapiccini, Brera Academy of Fine Arts
Samuel Bianchini, École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs—Paris (EnsAD) / PSL Université Paris
Artistic research: from reflective practice to experimental publications
Elena Cologni, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge
From performance to dialogic sculptures: practicing a feminist care aesthetics
Akram Zaatari, Ecole nationale supérieure d'arts de Paris Cergy (ENSAPC)
From document to Venus: research as art
Rosita Mariani, Accademia Teatro alla Scala
Sensitive animals: a somatic approach to dancing humans
Leonella Grasso Caprioli, Luca Marenzio National Conservatory of Music, Brescia
Performing arts and artistic research in the international context of higher music education
DAY 2
10.00-10.15 Guests Welcome
10.15-12.00 Panel 3 | Key Issues in Contemporary Artistic Research
Chair: Lorella Scacco, Brera Academy of Fine Arts
Kristin Bergaust, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo
Ecology of the seas: artistic research in transdisciplinary environments. Crossing contemporary art, technology, ecology, and marine biology
Antonio Somaini, Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris
Art and machine learning: a theory of latent spaces
Fosbury Architecture, design and architecture collective, Milan
Spaziale: everyone belongs to everyone else
12.00-13.00 Closing Keynote
Johan A. Haarberg, Society for Artistic Research (SAR) Executive Officer
Artistic research’s coming of age?
13.00-13.15 Final Remarks
14.30-16.30 Workshop | Research Catalogue Project Portal
Johan A. Haarberg, Society for Artistic Research (SAR) Executive Officer, with Daniele Pozzi, sound artist and researcher