bodies as institutions as bodies

“bodies as Institutions as bodies” is curated as a series of performance, film and installation events programmed alongside seminars, conversations, and panel discussions. The symposium unfolds the term “institute” as both a verb to set in motion, to generate, to actuate—and a noun—a university, an alliance, a group.

Addressing concepts and practices of institutionalisation via doctoral and supervisory, individual and collective, disciplinary and interdisciplinary artistic research perspectives, t“bodies as Institutions as bodies” explores how we institute and are instituted in the field of artistic research, and how this plays out in our bodies, and in the various institutional bodies, contexts and conditions we work, research, perform in, and create.

Contributors include: Petra Bauer, Helene Berg, Ester Bergsmark, Savaş Boyraz, Harm Coordes, Sebastian Dahlqvist, Sher Doruff, Taru Elfving, Michael Francis Duch, BamBam Frost, Saul Garcia Lopez, Kathrin Gollwitzer-Oh, Anne Gry Haugland, Rebecca Hilton, Hanna Husberg,  Egija Inzule, Daniel Israelsson Casta, Christina Koch, Elina Koivisto, Kopparbergs Folkets Hus, Kultivator, lambert, Maria Lind, Rudy Loewe, Heidi Möller,  Alexander Skantze, Márcia Nemer, Alessandra Di Pisa, Robert Stasinski, Chrysa Parkinson, Kent Olofsson, Stacey Sacks, Hito Steyerl (online), Ilse van Rijn, Eva Weinmayr, Mick Wilson, John-Paul Zaccarini.

Organised by members of the EARN “bodies” research group: Rebecca Hilton (Professor of choreography for the profile area Site Event Encounter at SKH, and lead of animal bodies); Hanna Husberg (assistant professor of Performative and Media-based Practices at SKH, and lead of environmental bodies); Kathrin Gollwitzer-Oh (Head of Research Coordination, University of the Arts Bremen (HfK) and lead of institutional bodies); and Sebastian Dahlqvist, core member of “bodies” and artistic and executive director of Hägerstensåsens Medborgarhus.

Schedule and registration: Participation is in person and free, however, advance registration is required. See the full programme and register here.

Support: This symposium is organised with support from Stockholm University of the Arts, University of the Arts (HfK) Bremen, and thanks to funding from Riksbankens jubileumfond’s Research Initiation grant.

bodies is an international group of researchers, educators and practitioners coming together from across artistic, academic, and activist contexts. Elaborated via three discrete yet interrelated working parties—animal bodies, institutional bodies, and environmental bodies—“bodies” unfolds what emerges when transdisciplinary, collaborative, practice-led research is situated in, and cared for by an artistic research environment. bodies is one of a set of research working groups within the Expanded Artistic Research Network (EARN).

The Expanded Artistic Research Network (EARN) is an international network of artistic research groups that operate through a variety of means including regular international working-group meetings, workshops, seminars, symposia, conferences, winter/summer-school programmes, exhibitions, and publications. In addition to ”bodies” the other working groups include: Methods, Imaginaries, Politics of Aesthetics, the Curatorial Studies Workshop, Space+Practice, and On Drawing.

Upcoming EARN Events

December 12, 2025: As part of our new platform, the digital repository of EARN publications (2004 to 2025) and archive of all previous events, will be released online. 

March 2, 2026: The first online seminar of EARN's newly-formed Imaginaries, working group will take place. See the EARN homepage artresearch.network for more.