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A / R – art-recherche

a / r asbl – art-recherche – is an association for supporting, exchanging, disseminating, and promoting research in art in Higher Schools of Arts in the Federation Wallonia-Brussels.

Research in Art?

It is by acknowledging the emergence, particularly within art schools, of diverse artistic practices that invent research methodologies tailored to the questions they address, thus creating a new field of investigation and new knowledge, that this platform came into being.

The necessarily unpredictable and unprovable nature of artistic creation undermines any definition of art research prior to its practical experimentation. This reality of research similarly avoids any subsequent systematization or standardization of procedures or methodologies. It is therefore important to establish strategies for identifying and enhancing these unique objects.

This mission will be carried out, among other things, in close collaboration with the FRArt (Fund for Artistic Research within the FNRS) and its International Artistic Committee. FRArt organizes calls for projects that will receive financial support.

The Dissemination of Art Research

a / r asbl aims to help disseminate art research by playing a role in archiving and publicly making available the various research projects that emerge within art schools or in their surrounding environment.

It is important that these artistic researches, like other types of research, do not remain confined to the places where they emerge, but are accessible to other artist-researchers as well as the general public. The dissemination and circulation of this research is a responsibility that a / r asbl intends to take on.

In addition to the dissemination and archiving of research projects supported by FRArt, the platform also provides information on ongoing or completed theses within the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (FWB) as part of the doctoral program in art and art sciences organized by universities in collaboration with higher art schools.

The platform is also a place for archiving and making available various research projects conducted within art schools or by their associated artist-researchers, and their teacher-researchers.

a / r asbl is the result of a reflection led for several years by the higher art schools, within what was then the Conseil supérieur de l’Enseignement supérieur artistique de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. In 2012, the CSESA, in order to assess this situation, organized an international conference held on November 28th and 29th at the Palais des Académies in Brussels: "Einstein / Duchamp and After? Research in Higher Art Schools."

The conference allowed the debate to move beyond the CSESA and make it a public issue. The number of participants and the quality of the audience's attention demonstrated the necessity and urgency to discuss this essential question and find an institutional response to promote this research, whose very particular nature requires an original approach in the landscape of higher education.

While the conference highlighted the richness and interest of research projects developed in art schools in Europe and around the world, it also revealed the existence of structured and high-quality research projects within certain higher art schools in the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles.

The CSESA concluded that it was necessary to highlight these researches and strengthen the dynamics already in place by creating a support and dissemination platform for research, exchange of practices, and resource sharing, which led to the establishment of a / r asbl and its Artistic Committee in 2014.

In 2016 and 2017, a / r asbl, thanks to public funding, organized international calls for art research projects and financially supported the 10 selected research projects.

In 2018, at the initiative of the Government of the FWB, the Fonds de Recherche en Art (FRArt) was created by decree. It is endowed with an annual budget of 250,000 euros. Starting in 2019, FRArt organizes the calls for projects, while a / r asbl handles the dissemination, archiving, and diffusion of research.

It is important to note that art research should not be confused with scientific research that treats art as its subject of study, such as research conducted in art history departments, for example.

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