At the invitation of Neal Peres de Costa (Sydney Conservatorium) and Vanessa Tomlinson (Queensland Conservatorium) representatives of the DDCA attended the Artistic Research Summit at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music last month. The event focused particularly on the discipline of music though contextualised within the broader landscape of creative practice research.
“The aim of ARS was to celebrate achievements over the past twenty years, assess the position, impact and engagement potential of artistic research in 2025, and consolidate the further development of this knowledge by effectively communicating a collective vision for artistic research in Australian higher education.”
The large attendance of researchers in music practice from around the country spoke of a desire for collegiality, connection, collective participation and influence. Without a self-conscious or earnest posturing – which can be the way we dispose ourselves these days toward certain political or social fashions and what they think we ought to slogan (v.) about – the foundations of many conversations were around the function of a tertiary sector in society and what creative practice has to do with that. It’s about ‘an assertion of our humanity. Something about human flourishing. And that is very close to the heart of the arts’.
But the net was cast even wider than that by Jacinta Tobin who welcomed us to Country and put in our minds (our bodies, with her song) just how inextricable ‘art’ is from, well, everything – and how certain challenges that the creative practice research field has encountered in its making are symptomatic of a specific cultural, epistemological, political lineage and moment.
Though creative practice research is not new it can be seen as newly instituted in the contemporary western university, but the practice, the way of thinking-doing is much older than its formalisation in the academy. This much was voiced in the first panel of the event as well as by Huib Schippers who, in his keynote address, reminded us that even the current topics of debate around the assessment of creative practice research are the very same as when he was working to design the first iteration of ERA in 2010.
It was clear there are old, strong and now mature foundations to this practice whilst at the same time certain understandings outside the creative arts disciplines themselves have been difficult to align. The DDCA sees that it can play a role here in this alignment and communication within and outside of the creative practice research field, which was the precise motivation for the recent work toward a New Evaluation Framework.
In general, what was expressed at the Summit was the need for a way to protect diversity – within disciplines, within universities, amongst researchers and their interests – whilst having a coherent (and strategic) way of speaking to those outside the field who have strong influence on how the field is supported. This is very much what the DDCA, in concert with each of their peak body members, can provide – leadership in this strategic communication and advocacy work for the entire field.
Briefly, some other key points of discussion at the event were:
Researchers that had worked extensively in international contexts observed that ‘we do things differently here in Australia’ – in regards to our understandings, framings and practices of creative practice research. This observation calls for deeper understanding around what it is that distinguishes Australia from other approaches and what we may have to learn from one another.
Some concerns were expressed around creative practice researchers framing their work as ‘in service of other interests and disciplines’ (mainly for reasons of securing funding) as opposed to a recognition of the ‘intrinsic value’ of art. This either/or construction reflects the type of dismembered view of creative arts as separate from other things. What some of the presentations of work demonstrated – including, as mentioned, Jacinta Tobin’s offerings – is that the ‘intrinsic value’ of art is particular and inextricable from all other worldly concerns, which makes it part of ‘other interests and disciplines’ whilst irreducible to any of them. The details of this need to be unpacked and sharing how this takes shape in the music practice research projects is where the focus is rightly turning.
And this is really what ought be shared here – not a description of the event but the actual incredible work that was shared over the three-day event. The need for a national cultural archive of a kind where the research could be properly cataloged and shared publicly became increasingly more urgent as we saw, heard and felt the performances and presentations of deeply intelligent and moving research. The very good news is that, at this nascent stage of the ARC research capabilities draft and the DDCA’s recent meeting with the ARC on this subject, it seems they are very much on board with this vision. What they are proposing is a shift away from evaluation of research which measures and ranks individuals and universities toward a public platform that properly organises and celebrates research. We look forward to our ongoing collaboration with the ARC to ensure the platform services the needs of the disciplines of creative practice research.
Clearly this gathering was meaningful in many ways to this community of music practice researchers, especially at a time when so many are undergoing radical changes in their university contexts and wholesale closures of creative arts departments. The support, sustenance and reinvigoration of a commitment to these research practices was palpable – and may lead to a revival of a music practice peak body which will continue this good work, including the finalisation of a manifesto for music practice research which the delegation started as the final session of the event. This will be a very welcome addition to the growing resources that support disciplinary diversity within a coherent research field.