Artistic research: looking back at the RAPP Lab multiplier event in May 2023
On 12 and 13 May, a remarkable conference on Artistic Research (AR) as part of higher music education study courses took place at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Köln.
The conference was remarkable and outstanding in two respects. On the one hand, because it provided the opportunity to make two Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership projects meet which – although they have been launched and carried out independently- had a similar focus. Both were investigating the added value for music students of engaging in AR for the development of an individual, original and excellent artistic profile. RAPP Lab approached the issue more from a more analytical point of view, while REACT – as the project title suggests – had a stronger focus on developing and testing alternative models of learning and teaching at Higher Music Education Institutions (HMEIs).
On the other hand, the Reflect & React conference was also unusual and outstanding as it was run as an AEC event, but outside of the regular AEC events. Formally, Reflect & React was the final multiplier event of an Erasmus+ project in which the AEC was involved along with 6 AEC member HMEIs from all across Europe as partners. To come to the point: the event was a great success in many regards.
The conference started with a musical introduction performed by students from the host institution, followed by a presentation of the two projects Rapp Lab and REACT with a main focus on their content, goals and exemplary outcomes. After this, 9 young researchers from 7 countries presented their artistic research projects and their answers to the question how these AR projects influenced their own perspectives as performing artists. The spectrum of topics presented ranged from the role of music in interdisciplinary performances to the interpretation of salon pieces from the second half of the 19th century. But it was also striking to see how many among these young emerging researching artists dealt with issues surrounding their own identity as artists and their role in society.
On Friday evening and Saturday morning, 12 chosen AR representatives shared with the audience their thoughts and ideas on epistemology, but also on more organisational aspects and topics relating to the role and significance of AR as part of HME studies. The multifaceted and diverse inputs stimulated lively discussions, which were continued in the next day’s World Café sessions.
The conference ended with a panel discussion in which future perspectives of learning and teaching AR as well as the state of the art of AR at German HMEIs were addressed. It was concluded that one of the results of this conference was to successfully strengthen the links between current international developments in the field of AR and the related activities at German Musikhochschulen, which have long been rather on the slow track in a Europe at different speeds when it comes to AR. This was not at least due to the presence of many and prominent representatives of the German Musikhochschulen.
The event was framed by stylistically multi-faceted and artistically outstanding chamber music contributions, including a LoLa live concert with musicians from Cologne and Tallinn.
The participants evaluated the conference to be of high quality and extremely inspiring. This can also be seen as a sign that the still-young research domain of Artistic Research has recently gained considerable momentum and has now finally arrived in the middle of music and arts HEIs.
A detailed report on the content and progress of the Reflect&React conference is in progress and will be available on the AEC and RAPP Lab websites after the summer break.
