Online presenations and conversations
May 19–23, 2025
Over a five day period we live-stream guest presentations by invited artists, scholars, curators and researchers who address different aspects of artistic research and questions of “the imaginary”. Contributors include: Jason E. Bowman, Charles Esche, Vincenzo Estremo, Cătălin Gheorghe, Petra Johansson, Kerstin Mey, Andrea Phillips, Nuno Sacramento, KissPál Szabolcs, Tünde Varga, and Mick Wilson.
The presentations and conversations will address different aspects of the imaginary as a reserach construct within contemporary art practice and artistic research. Over the week we explore a spectrum of concerns ranging from wider questions of the imagination to profiles of specific research projects, while also introducing the idea of organisational imaginaries and emerging research on infrastructures of distribution. The intensive takes place in person in the Glasshouse at the University of Gothenburg with part of the programme streamed online as described below. Participation online is open to specialists and non-specialists alike.
Participation free, booking required. All times are CEST.
Monday 1May 19
4–5:30pm: “Stretched: Expanded Notions of Artistic Practice via Artist-led Cultures.”
Jason E. Bowman artist with a curatorial practice, researcher, educator and director of the MFA Fine Art, HDK-Valand, University of Gothenburg.
5:45–6:45pm: “The Power of Imagination? Aesthetic Autonomy and Critique in Contemporary Art.”
Prof. Tünde Varga in conversation with Prof. Mick Wilson
Tünde Varga works in the Department of Art Theory and Curatorial Studies, The Hungarian University of Fine Art, Budapest with research expertise in contemporary art, visual culture, art theory, contemporary documentary, curatorial and museum studies.
Tuesday May 20
4–5pm: “Field Studies: An artistic exploration of a place.”
Petra Johansson, Artistic Director Göteborgs Konsthall, Sweden, and co-curator with Caroline Malmström of Field Studies
5:30–6:30pm: “Organisational Imaginaries #1: Peacock and the Worm”
Dr. Nuno Sacramento, Director of Peacock and the Worm, Aberdeen, Scotland.
Wednesday May 21
3:30–4:30pm: “Organisational Imaginaries #2: VECTOR”
Prof. Cătălin Gheorghe in conversation with Prof. Mick Wilson. Prof. Gheorghe is theoretician, curator, editor and professor (art theory, aesthetics, visual culture) at George Enescu National University of the Arts in Iași, Romania.
4:45–5:45pm: “Organisational Imaginaries #3: Distribution networks and the reproduction of cultural forms.”
Prof. Vincenzo Estremo, Director of Doctoral Programme NABA, Milan, Italy.
Thursday May 22
4–5pm: “From Fake Mountains to Faith (Hungarian Trilogy)”
Prof. KissPál Szabolcs, artist and associate professor in the Intermedia Department of the Hungarian University of Fine Art, Budapest.
5:30–6:30pm: “Art, narrative and value: Researching eco- and climate imaginaries in contemporary art.”
Prof. Kerstin Mey, professor of visual culture at the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Limerick, Ireland
Friday May 23
3:30–4:30pm: “Contemporary Art and the Production of Inequality”
Prof. Andrea Phillips, BALTIC Professor and Director of BxNU Research Institute, Northumbria University & BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.
5–6pm: “The Museum Is Multiple”
Prof. Charles Esche, curator, writer and professor of curating and contemporary art at the University of the Arts London and Series Editor of the Exhibition Histories series and programme.
About
Researching Imaginaries is a doctoral level course realized in partnership between HDK-Valand, Academy of Art and Design, the Hungarian University of Fine Arts, Budapest (Magyar Képzőművészeti Egyetem, HUFA) the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków (Akademia Sztuk Pięknych im. Jana Matejki w Krakowie, ASP), with participation from colleagues from the University of the Arts, Bremen (Hochschule für Künste Bremen, HfK) and the Nuova Accademia Di Bella Art Milan (NABA) with guest researchers from other institutions. Researching Imaginaries is an associated initiative of the Centre for Art & the Political Imaginary (CAPIm) and enabled by the ERASMUS + blended intensive programmes.
