Collaborating with artists can substantially enrich a research project, from shaping research design through to making the dissemination of research findings more accessible. Essential to this is the process of collaboration.
This project explores what makes a meaningful, equitable collaboration between artists and researchers through exploring the experiences of both artists and arts-engaged researchers. It seeks to better understand what artists and researchers need to know about each other’s practices, contexts and experiences to ensure that collaborative research is a mutually beneficial experience. Working together on this project were Dr Jimmy Turner, Rhiannon Bull, Jean McEwan and Susan Morrison.
The aim was to co-create material and content for a ‘Field Guide to Artist-Researcher Collaborations’, published online via Edinburgh Diamond.
The team held a series of workshops in the summer of 2024 with a range of artists and artist-researchers who had worked in or with research in a range of capacities and fields from a variety of disciplines – including artists who straddle artist/researcher roles, artists who have held longer-term artistic residencies, artists who have worked primarily on shorter one-off projects, and artists who have engaged in research of their own. In these workshops, the team used creative practices (including collage and drama techniques) to explore and share knowledge, experiences and insights of working with research.
The team then ‘road tested’ some findings at the International Creative Research Methods Conference in September 2024. The finished field guide was published in Spring 2026.
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