SAAR 2017
August 20, 2017 - August 13, 2017
Accommodation
Individual rooms will be booked for all participants at the Cultural Centre Sofia by the coordinator of SAAR 2017 in Helsinki. Information about these practicalities will be sent out to all participants before the start of the Summer Academy.
The University of each participant will cover the travel costs. Please contact your own country’s contact person for more details.
There are opportunities for discussions in smaller groups and presentations in different environments. We have access to seminar rooms and spaces outside. There will be a piano available for use in the center.
Website
The SAAR 2017 schedule and information about practical things will be posted and updated on our website. Information about the use of other forms of electronic communication will be sent out to participants before the event.
Before the start of SAAR 2017 all participants will send in short written presentations describing their research projects. The participants send in the presentations in via an electronic form that will be distributed by the coordinator. The presentations will be published on-line. The main questions to be answered in the presentation are:
This presentation should be in a maximum 1 A4. The presentations should be read by all participants thoroughly before the start of the week.
Helsinki 13-20.8.2017
The University of the Arts Helsinki (UNIARTS Helsinki) will organize the Nordic Summer Academy for Artistic Research in Helsinki in August 2017. The venue for SAAR 2017 is Cultural Centre Sofia in Nordsjö/Vuosaari in Helsinki. Sofia is about 20–30 minutes from the city center and from the airport.
The SAAR 2017 programme is planned by the Nordic network´s Steering group, which consists of a representative from Finland, Sweden and Norway. The Finnish SAAR committee will also contribute to the planning of the programme.
The Summer Academy provides a supportive setting where artist-researchers (PhD candidates, Doctoral candidates or research fellows in artistic research) from various art fields collaborate, present their on-going artistic work and research and receive feedback from experienced tutors and peers from leading academic institutions. The summer academy aims to reflect the international diversity and scope of artistic research and to provide a stimulating and creative environment. It seeks to clarify, discuss and develop further emerging themes and issues arising out of the individual fellowship projects of the participants within the framework of artistic research.
Each participating country in the SAAR network select their participants internally and inform prospective applicants how to apply. The number of allocated participants per country is six (Finland: 6, Sweden: 6, Norway: 6), altogether 18 participants. Each country also has three supervisor positions allocated to them, making it altogether 9 supervisors participating in SAAR. The networks deadline for partner countries to submit all participants and supervisors names is March 28th 2017.
Practicalities – logistics AS PDF FILE!
Accommodation
Individual rooms will be booked for all participants at the Cultural Centre Sofia by the coordinator of SAAR 2017 in Helsinki. Information about these practicalities will be sent out to all participants before the start of the Summer Academy.
Address: Kallvikinniementie 35 (former Kallvikintie 28)
00980 Helsinki, Finland
• There is no fee for the participants
• The accommodation costs will be covered by the Nordic SAAR Network
• Breakfast, coffee, lunch and dinner is included in the accommodation at the Cultural Centre Sofia
• The centre has sauna facilities that will be available for participants
Travelling
The University of each participant will cover the travel costs. Please contact your own country’s contact person for more details.
Arrival time: Sunday 13.8.2017 (preferably no later than in the afternoon)
Departure time: Sunday 20.8.2017 (not before 13:00)
Spaces
There are opportunities for discussions in smaller groups and presentations in different environments. We have access to seminar rooms and spaces outside. There will be a piano available for use in the center.
Website
The SAAR 2017 schedule and information about practical things will be posted and updated on our website. Information about the use of other forms of electronic communication will be sent out to participants before the event.
WORKING METHODS
The aim of SAAR is to discuss in depth the participants’ research projects within the developing discourses of art practice and research. This happens through different forms of supervision and intensive conversation. SAAR is based on the participants' projects and is centered in the discussion of the projects. Supervisors are there to facilitate the discussion and to participate in working groups.
Written presentations – before start
Before the start of SAAR 2017 all participants will send in short written presentations describing their research projects. The participants send in the presentations in via an electronic form that will be distributed by the coordinator. The presentations will be published on-line. The main questions to be answered in the presentation are:
• Give a short general presentation of your work
• Describe the context of your research
• Summarize in 3 bullet points the main problems/questions/objectives in your research
• Choose 5 key words to describe your research
This presentation should be in a maximum 1 A4. The presentations should be read by all participants thoroughly before the start of the week.
Opening live presentations – as SAAR week starts
As a warm up session to kick off SAAR 2017 participants will give short live presentations. The time is a maximum of 10 minutes per person/presentation. The format for the presentation is open – all forms of communication are welcome. The presentation can e.g. include an action/practice element. The presentation should include:
• A very brief contextualization of your research topic – outline the core elements
• Choose one (1) specific question/problem/objective in your research that you would like to explore during the SAAR week. Highlight this problem/question/objective with a practical example/s
Do not go in-depth in your research project in the presentation. It should just give your fellow participants a general idea of your research topic. The live presentation works as a source of complementary information to the written presentation you have written beforehand.
If you have specific needs for equipment or technical support, please send an email to Michaela Bränn (michaela.brann@uniarts.fi) so that we can see what is possible to facilitate on site.
Group discussions/workshops
“Group discussions” are held as parallel discussions, with 4–5 groups at the time. The group discussions are based on the initiatives of the participants. Each participant will initiate at least one group discussion during the week. The discussions should be quite improvised, and not too prepared, in order for us to dive into where ever in the process the researcher is at right now.
In order to start the group discussion the participant should prepare a 5 minutes "action", which is then followed by an open conversation. The action could be a physical action, giving instruction to the group members, trying out something with the participants, reading text, asking others to read, showing visual material etc. It should somehow "open a window" towards a domain that the researcher wishes to discuss. At the beginning of the week, we will decide when each research participant initiates a group discussion/workshop, and from day to day, we will make sure that there is an equal distribution of participants and supervisors across the groups. Instructions for how reporting from the group sessions will be done, is provided during the start of the Academy
Summing up
The summing up- sessions will be short, but here the groups will report the main issues they have discussed, we will plan the day ahead, and make sure all practicalities are on track.
Individual supervision
The participants will have the possibility to sign up for individual supervision with the supervisors. Schedules for this will be drawn up at the beginning of the week.
Presentations at the end of the week
We will end the week with the participants presenting what they have realized about their project during the week: what has been clarified, what do they want to continue with, what is still unclear etc. It is an individual summary of the week, but still part of the experimentation with/within the project. Each participant has 30 minutes (including discussion) and the formats of the presentations can vary, the participants can decide how to dispose the time.
We encourage to experiment with the format of presentation or to collaborate. Some preparation time will be provided and we will make a schedule for the presentations once we know technical requirements and which space each presenter wants to use. In order to vary the activities, we will encourage participants to use all the spaces, included the outdoor space, during the group discussions.
Other activities
In terms of social activities, we will provide information about interesting events or other possible activities in Helsinki in the evenings. These will not be compulsory, but some might decide to go together. On Thursday we will organize an excursion in Helsinki. More information about the excursion will be provided later on. On Saturday evening, we will go out on the town for a joint dinner.
