Last Friday, 23 June 2023, the moment was finally there: The first cohort of the Professional Doctorate Arts & Creative Programme in The Netherlands officially introduced themselves to the public. The launch of the programme took place in Utrecht at the University of the Arts (HKU).
After a brief introduction by chair of the HKU Executive Board Heleen Jumelet and PD task force member Anke Coumans, Natalie Loveless opened the afternoon with her splendid keynote “Research Creation as Daily Practice”. The keynote was followed by the main part of the day, the presentations of the eight candidates. What a diversity!
Themes such as dying mountains and glaciers, cyanobacteria as co-creators in photography, or collective forms of organisation and art making showed how much the candidates contextualise their practices as artists, designers or curators in contemporary society and the questions our society faces on local, regional, national and global scales. It also demonstrated a trend away from notions of mastery, individuality or even “frontiers” of disciplines in a traditional sense, but rather towards notions of accountability and of being community-based.
In the final part of the programme, a panel consisting of Liesbet van Zoonen, Natalie Loveless, Jeroen Boomgaard and Laura Cull Ó Maoilearca, discussed the quality dimension and requirements of the programme.
For more information about the start of the programme and the eight participating candidates, see here.
Falk Hübner 