MUK | Artistic Research Conference

Theme

In recent years, artistic research has become an established field within higher arts education, particularly in the context of doctoral programmes in the arts. At the same time, many conferences in this area have increasingly adopted formats that resemble traditional academic settings, where theoretical reflection often takes precedence and the central role of artistic practice can become less visible. This development raises a fundamental question: how is knowledge generated through artistic practice, and how can it be shared and communicated within research contexts?

This student-organised PhD conference seeks to address this imbalance by placing artistic practice more explicitly at the centre of the exchange. For many artists working in research contexts, practice is not merely an illustration of ideas but the primary mode through which knowledge emerges. It is through daily work, experimentation, and embodied engagement with artistic material that research takes shape. In this sense, artistic practice is understood as a form of knowing in itself.

At the same time, artistic processes are always embedded in broader constellations – social, material, historical, and collaborative. The conference therefore approaches artistic research as an interconnected field of practices, in which knowledge is not isolated but emerges through relations, interactions, and situated processes.

Formats and domains

Rather than focusing primarily on traditional paper presentations, the conference encourages contributions from a wide range of artistic disciplines and formats that make processes visible. Possible contributions include performance lectures, sonic experiments, improvisational demonstrations, mini-workshops, poster presentations, artistic interventions, or other hybrid formats that combine artistic action and reflection. The conference aims not only to present finished results but to share methods, questions, and ongoing explorations, and to create a space in which uncertainty, experimentation, and dialogue are recognised as essential components of knowledge production. We explicitly welcome contributions from all artistic fields, as well as collective and collaborative proposals.

By bringing together doctoral candidates and early-career researchers from different contexts, the conference seeks to foster connections and contribute to a growing community in which artistic practice and critical reflection can develop in close and productive dialogue.

We welcome submissions oft he following categories:

• Performance lectures
• Sonic experiments
• Improvisational demonstrations
• Mini workshops
• Poster presentations
• Artistic interventions
• Other hybrid formats that combine artistic action and reflection

Submission

Please send your proposal (including a short biography, a video documentation or project pitch with a link to your portfolio, and information regarding duration as well as spacial/technical requirements) until 13 September to: doctoralconference2027@muk.ac.at

Further questions can be directed to doctoralconference2027@muk.ac.at.