Artistic research has been recognised in European art education for more than 20 years, but only in some European art universities does it constitute a regular part of the curriculum. In the framework of the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the project "Diversity - Artistic Research in the European Union", the Art Academy of Latvia (LMA) and partners from the Art Academy of Rome, the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts and the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts are developing the field of artistic research in partner art universities through various public events. One of these events was the performative action on 8 September by artists Claus Schöning Lam Yong (DE), Bernadett Jobbágy (HU), Nele Hartmann (DE) and Līva Rutmane-Kalniņa (LV) taking place at the Vidzeme Market as part of the contemporary art festival Survival Kit 14. Interrogating individual contemporary creative practices and the possibilities to combine them in a collective expression, new forms of conversation was sought to revive the changing nature of artistic processuality and raise awareness of the wider public about the process of creating art.
Claus Schöning Lam Yong studied biochemistry at the Free University of Berlin and studied at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts with Susan Philipsz. He explores the relationship between the creation and power of new knowledge through scientific and artistic representations, mainly working with sound and moving images. His work can be described as poetic interventions in the ambiguous history of the West.
Bernadett Jobbágy is a Hungarian choreographer, director, movement educator and founder of the collective Onopordum Performance. She graduated from the Landscape Architecture programme at Corvinus University of Budapest, as well as from the Academy of Contemporary Dance and the Budapest University of Theatre and Film Arts. Her creative practice focuses on the transformation of somatic processes in the arts, with a particular emphasis on film art as an inclusive practice. Bernadette's research focuses not only on the theoretical side of the embodiment paradigm, but also on related artistic practices in filmmaking, and embodiment as individual and collective experience.
Nele Hartmann graduated as an art therapist from the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. In her creative practice she explores and uses natural materials to create performative activities and installations that invite the visitor to participate in sensory experiences.
Līva Rutmane–Kalniņa is a graduate of the Art Academy of Latvia, Department of Graphic Arts, currently studying in the Professional Doctoral Programme at the Art Academy of Latvia. She creates large-format drawings and small-format plastic objects, works in the artist group "Klīga", as well as in book design. In her creative work, she continues to explore the aesthetics of materiality and relatedness, particularly focusing on the influence of new materialist theory.