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Research centre for Arts, Autonomy and the Public Sphere (known as AOK) will change its name from October 1st to: research centre What Art Knows. The new name refers to the focus and expertise that the research centre has built up in recent years: developing artistic research.

AOK Zuyd

Artistic research is a relatively new field within the arts. It sees art practice as a form of knowledge production. Like science, art produces knowledge—albeit a different kind of knowing. What exactly art knows, and how artistic research can be embedded in the practice of art education, are the research themes of the research centre in the coming years. Lecturer Ruth Benschop: “The new name refers to the research we will be doing in the coming years within art education at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences: which forms and methods of knowledge are cultivated within the various art disciplines? Think, for example, of knowledge about the embodiedness of the artist, or the knowledge that results from different forms of drawing. The new name is therefore also more in line with developments in education and in the practice of the contemporary artist.”

Research centre What Art Knows– assessed as excellent last year – is a centre for research at the various art departments of Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. The research of the centre – and the recently launched network organization for PhDs in the arts MERIAN – focuses on artistic research and engagement in the arts. The research centre is known for its own ‘Maastricht style’ of artistic research, both within Zuyd University of Applied Sciences and among the art education and research institutions in the Netherlands.

For more information: www.whatartknows.nl