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.

Our aim is to co-create material and content for a ‘Field Guide to Artist-Researcher Collaborations’, which will take the form of a printed and online zine.

So far, we’ve held a series of workshops with a range of artists and artist-researchers who have 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, we used creative practices (including collage and drama techniques) to explore and share our knowledge, experiences and insights of working with research. 

We’ll be ‘road testing’ some of our findings at the International Creative Research Methods Conference in September 2024, following which we will refine our ideas and material into the finished zine to be launched in Spring 2025.