September 10, 2026·Blog
Looking Back at Endangered Conceptual Worlds
The 2026 International Forum on Artistic Research
From 23 - 26 June 2026, the Society for Artistic Research, together with the Institute for Creativity at the University of Galway, welcomed more than 350 participants from over 50 countries to the 2026 International Forum on Artistic Research, the 17th SAR Conference on Artistic Research.
Over four days, more than 170 contributors took part in 120+ programme sessions, making this the largest SAR Forum dedicated entirely to artistic research so far.
With Endangered Conceptual Worlds as the Forum’s theme, presenters and participants discussed forms of knowledge, language, cultural memory, ecology and technology that are under pressure, overlooked or at risk of disappearing. The programme brought together presentations, workshops, performances, exhibitions, roundtables, laboratories and more experimental formats, with researchers approaching these questions from very different disciplinary and geographical perspectives.
Photographer: Mike Shaughnessy
The Forum opened at the University of Galway with a programme that combined the official inauguration, the launch of the University's new Institute for Creativity, the annual SAR Prize for Best Exposition in the Research Catalogue, and an evening devoted to Irish-language artistic practice.
The opening ceremony included speeches by David J. Burn, President of the University of Galway; Rebecca Braun, Executive Dean of the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies; Florian Schneider, Director of the Institute for Creativity and President of the Society for Artistic Research; Tríona Ní Shíocháin, Head of the School of English, Media and Creative Arts; and Tomás Ó Síocháin, Chief Executive of Údarás na Gaeltachta.
Photographer: Mike Shaughnessy
In the afternoon, the annual SAR Prize for Best Exposition in the Research Catalogue was awarded to this year’s winner Annika Borg, who joined us in Galway and shared insights into her exposition which documents and develops her daily, ongoing practice of rolling dice since 1995. The prize recognises outstanding artistic research published in the Research Catalogue, with an international jury reviewing submitted expositions before selecting a shortlist and overall winner.
This was followed by a conversation between Florian Schneider, Sharon Flynn, Jessamyn Fairfield, Doris Sommer, Johanna Leissner, Annie Fletcher, Dermot Casey, Vincent Mc Carthy and Tomás Ó Síocháin on the relevance of practice-based research across the creative disciplines in an increasingly fragmented world.
Photographer: Mike Shaughnessy
The formal programme continued with the official Welcome Reception, generously supported by Údarás na Gaeltachta where participants, arriving from different parts of the international artistic research community, had a chance to meet each other.
The day ended with Aniar Aneas, Aniar Aduaidh, an Irish-language music and dance performance by artists from Ireland's Gaeltacht regions. Featuring Marianne Ní Chinnéide, Tríona Ní Shíocháin, Nada Ní Chuirrín and Síle Denvir, the performance offered a fantastic close to the opening day - placing questions of language, cultural memory and ways of knowing firmly at the centre of the Forum.
Photographer: Mike Shaughnessy
The second day of the Forum was packed with presentations and parallel conversations, as we kicked-off the peer-reviewed programme. Sessions ran across the University of Galway campus from the morning into the evening, with participants joining presentations, workshops, performances, roundtables, exhibitions, poster sessions and other experimental formats.
The range of subjects was broad, with certain questions resurfacing:
Language was one of them. Across roundtables, performances and project presentations, researchers worked with minoritised languages, multilingual practices, translation, contemporary poetry, mother tongues, Irish-language performance and language revitalisation. Many projects considered language as part of the knowledge-production itself: something that carries histories, relationships and particular ways of seeing and understanding the world.
Weirding Language - A Glossary of the Strange and Unexpected by Bettina Schwalm, Julia W. Szagdaj
Questions of embodiment and situated knowledge also appeared throughout the programme. Dance, music, performance, sound, textiles and participatory practices offered different ways of asking how knowledge is formed through the body, through materials, through doing and through interactions. Other sessions focused on electroacoustic performance, historical media, rehearsal processes and performer-led research, showing how differently artistic research can approach embodied inquiry.
Unidentified Rehearsals by Gwen Welliver
Another line of enquiry was ecology, environment and place, considered climate resilience, rivers, environmental listening, speculative ecologies, migration, vernacular objects and decolonial perspectives.
Who Gets to Speak about Climate Risk & Resilience?: Artistic Practice as Epistemic Intervention
Presented by Lydia Cumiskey, Dr Sara Walmsley, Natascha Ng
The programme also returned to digital technologies and AI, with researchers considering how digital environments are changing artistic processes and forms of perception, as well as what happens to knowledge when it is produced, mediated or interpreted through new technologies.
In the afternoon, participants could visit the Centre for Creative Technologies Exhibition, where interactive installations and creative technologies presented artistic research in more experiential forms. Alongside this, the poster session offered another opportunity for sharing work and having more informal conversations around ongoing projects.
The day ended with the Forum's official networking dinner.
Day three reflected on the future of Artistic Research, focusing on the development of artistic research as a field and the questions currently shaping its future.
Artistic Research and the Lingering Gaze of Thought by Henk Borgdorff
The morning opened with Henk Borgdorff's presentation, Artistic Research and the Lingering Gaze of Thought. Drawing on decades of work, Borgdorff reflected on the place of artistic research within academia, its particular characteristics as a research practice, and the relationship between artistic practice, discursivity and knowledge production. The talk has since been published in the Journal for Artistic Research: https://www.jar-online.net/en/artistic-research-and-lingering-gaze-thought
The parallel programme continued several of the conversations from the previous day, while also turning towards artistic research policy, institutional change, climate transition, pedagogy, facilitation, artistic intelligence and generative AI. Several roundtables asked what artistic research might contribute as political, technological and environmental conditions continue to change.
We Are Supernova, presented by Anne Haaning
Irish-language research remained an important part of the programme. The IMBAS Presentation and Launch introduced the initiative and its aims, followed by the evening Taighde Dána – IMBAS Irish-medium Artistic Research Event, which offered a dedicated space for artistic research conducted through the Irish language.
The day also included time for individual SAR members to meet during the Individual Members’ Meeting and discuss the development of membership, the new Community Area, future initiatives and new ways of participating in SAR. Held just before the General Assembly, the meeting offered an opportunity for members to connect and discuss what participation can look like beyond the yearly conference.
The closing ceremony then looked ahead to the next SAR conference. The Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (VŠMU) introduced the 18th SAR International Conference on Artistic Research, which will take place in Bratislava from 21–24 April 2027.
The final morning began with the SAR General Assembly, where members reviewed the Society's activities over the past year, elected new members to the Executive Board and discussed the year ahead. As SAR's principal decision-making body, the General Assembly remains one of the key moments in the Society's annual calendar, giving members a direct role in shaping its future.
Casper Schipper presenting the Research Catalogue
The Portal Partner Meeting followed, bringing together representatives from partner institutions to discuss the Research Catalogue (RC), the Journal for Artistic Research (JAR), institutional collaboration and the continued development of the RC as an international infrastructure for artistic research. The meeting also gave Portal Partners an opportunity to exchange experiences and discuss shared priorities.
While the General Assembly was taking place, other participants joined guided visits to the Connemara Gaeltacht, organised in collaboration with Údarás na Gaeltachta.
Thank you for your commitment and participation
Four days in Galway brought together a wide range of artistic research practices, questions and perspectives. We hope the many conversations that began during the Forum will continue through the Research Catalogue, the Journal for Artistic Research, Special Interest Groups and the wider SAR community.
Photographer: Mike Shaughnessy
The Forum also provided a setting for the drafting of an Open Letter to the incoming Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, developed by members of the Artistic Research Alliance (ARA). The letter calls for stronger recognition of artistic research within European research policy and reflects the growing engagement of the artistic research community with wider cultural, societal and technological questions.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the 2026 International Forum on Artistic Research - as speakers, performers, exhibitors, reviewers, organisers, volunteers, partners and participants. And thank you to our hosts at the University of Galway and partners at Údarás na Gaeltachta for helping make the Forum possible.
We look forward to continuing the conversations begun in Galway and to welcoming the artistic research community to the 18th SAR International Conference on Artistic Research in Bratislava from 21–24 April 2027.