Orpheus Instituut Ghent | Orpheus Doctoral Conference 2026

Theme

The emerging generative concept of ‘worlding’ offers a methodological and theoretical orientation through which artistic practices may bring forth and configure different experiential, epistemic, and material realities. Rather than representing a pre-given world, musical practices can be understood as ontologically productive: they engage in worlding by generating sonic, historical, and conceptual realities that intervene in and reconfigure the social, material, and symbolic conditions of the present.

This conference focuses on worlding within artistic research in music, asking:

• In what ways do musical practices engage in worlding, bringing into being sonic, historical, and conceptual worlds that are relational, overlapping, and contested?
• What forms of knowledge emerge through such processes?
• What constitutes impact or value when a project worlds its own epistemic frame, entangled with but not contained by disciplinary norms?
• Can worlding itself become a critical framework, reshaping how we evaluate, collaborate, and critique within the artistic research community?

Registration fee

• € 60 normal rate for DAY 1 & 2 (lunch included on Thursday)
• € 30 student rate for DAY 1 & 2 (lunch included on Thursday)
• € 40 additional fee for Thursday in-house dinner

Submissions

Proposals are welcome that engage critically or experimentally with worlding in music, including but not limited to composition, performance, historiography, and transdisciplinary research.

Accepted formats include: 

• Presentations: 20 minutes + 10 minutes for Q&A
• Lecture performances: 35 minutes + 10 minutes for Q&A
• Artistic performances: 25–45 minutes recommended
• Installation: sound / audiovisual (microphones, mixers, speakers, media players are available. Please mention any technical needs in your application.)

The deadline for submission is 21 December 2025.

More information is available on the website of Orpheus Instituut.