Research as a Skill for Artists: Artistic research and Higher Arts Education

Abstract

The motivation of giving artistic research a concrete definition or contributing the theory of it is not only based on the concept of interdisciplinarity. The term artistic research, which appears in academic discourse, is also highly connected with the societal and political circumstances of today. There was not an acute inherent artistic necessity to engage in a practice that we now call artistic research. Instead, it was the academy that saw new opportunities for creating new programs, and new possibilities to get funding by introducing a new discipline called artistic research.1 Just as regarding art as a part of a creative economy, naturally entrepreneurial, art education has become a major industry. This change would have a substantial influence on the institutional situation of art and design production The role of the institution should be re-considered as artistic research is, or might be, regarded as a discipline or enquiry in art production. In this study, the master program of Fine Arts and Design at the University of the Arts Utrecht is selected as a research object.2 To find out the reason how the academic discourse in the field of artistic research reacts to the curriculum design in the postgraduate program. The central discussion would be based on the question of “How can artistic research be included in curriculum design and program assessment?”; more specifically, I will look at how at the master of Fine Art and Design at The University of the Arts Utrecht (MaHKU), and how an analysis of both the course and program design and the assessment of the program by the NVAO bring insight in the possibilities, the complexities and the potential of including artistic research in higher education. This study aims to provide critical reflection on the translation of research from academic discourse to educational material.