In a world where unshakeable certainties evaporate overnight, what challenges does artistic research face? How can artistic research engage with a world order that is being turned upside down, inverting or falling apart?
When conventional or established methods fail to generate the knowledge needed to respond to societal challenges, experimental, practice-based research through the arts becomes more important than ever.
Indeed, in recent years, there has been a substantial increase in the recognition of practice-based forms of research across the arts. Higher education institutions in the arts have rapidly adapted to third-cycle education, establishing successful PhD programmes across Europe and the world, covering artistic disciplines from music and fine arts to performance, film, and new media.
However, the relevance of artistic research is also evident in heated debates around AI and machine learning, which call into question not only the technical and social divisions of creative labour as we know it, but also the very concept of creativity.
Against this backdrop, it is no surprise that the growth of artistic research is reflected at a high policy level. The new Work Programme for Horizon Europe, for example, offers many opportunities on an unprecedented scale for artistic research to develop collaborative projects in cross-disciplinary consortia.
However, many member institutions of the Society are facing unprecedented challenges with regard to support mechanisms for artistic research. Over the past few months, programmes have been closed, funding has been cut, and colleagues have been made redundant.
Advocating for artistic research in these times requires forming new alliances. SAR plays an important role in the Artistic Research Alliance, which brings together the main network organisations in higher arts education. Instead of viewing arts and culture as a luxury or bonus feature that is nice to have, the main goal in this context is to struggle for cultural diversity as both the fundament and the key to future competitiveness.
The statement by Teresa Ribera, executive Vice-President of the European Commission, at the PACESETTERS summit a few weeks ago has been very encouraging for artistic research. Strengthening the links between art, science, and policy enables us to develop, test, and disseminate approaches and methodologies that integrate the arts and creative practices across the public and private sectors, reaching far beyond the walls of academic institutions.
Artistic research offers unlimited opportunities for interventions that connect cognitive and affective forms of knowledge production. It can establish frameworks for testing and implementing these in real-world scenarios and use cases. Ultimately, it promotes artistic intelligence as an alternative to, or counter-model for, AI. SAR has played a key role in driving the new COST action, Artistic Intelligence. Its success, particularly among early career researchers, has been overwhelming.
However, SAR also faces challenges that require further development and strengthening as a member-driven network organisation representing nearly 100 art academies, music conservatoires, film schools, and universities invested in artistic research.
SAR's steady and robust growth as an organisation generates new opportunities and areas of activity, but this must be combined with a thorough analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of its very lean and flexible structures.
The Executive Board has started a six-month project to develop future scenarios for strengthening the organisation, professionalising its operations, and making SAR more resilient while considering the full range of possible risks and opportunities. The results of this project will be presented and discussed at the next General Assembly during the International Forum for Artistic Research, which will take place from 23 to 26 June 2026 in Galway.
