Endangered Conceptual Worlds

Just a few days before the start of Ireland's EU presidency, the 2026 International Forum on Artistic Research will take place from 23-26 June. It sets out to explore the intersection between diverse forms of artistic research and the social, cultural and political contexts in which it operates. This year’s forum is focused on how artistic research engages with endangered conceptual worlds and minoritised languages — while also inviting engagement beyond language alone. 

In Connemara, midsummer is traditionally marked by Oíche Shin Seáin (St John’s Eve), celebrated on 23 June. The night is associated with bonfires, a long-standing folk custom that blends Christian and older seasonal traditions. These fires are commonly understood as protective and purifying, and the occasion is often interpreted as marking a liminal moment of transition between dark and light, past and future. 

As the largest conference on practice-based research within and through the arts, the 17th International SAR Conference brings together leading practitioners, scholars and policymakers from the entire range of arts-based disciplines. The event showcases artistic research projects and facilitates the exchange of experiences across institutional boundaries, focusing on critical debates on key issues.

How does artistic research strengthen cultural and linguistic diversity?

The International Forum on Artistic Research 2026 will explore how the visual, aural and material cultures of minoritised languages and endangered worlds constitute complex systems of conceptualisation and re-contextualisation. The pressing issue of linguistic diversity worldwide resonates deeply with the ethos and aims of the Artistic Research movement. This has become particularly urgent as Large Language Models (LLMs) threaten minoritised languages and generative models of Artificial Intelligence challenge the very concept of creative practice. The Forum in Galway 2026 will bring together a wide range of perspectives on the most urgent issues for cultural diversity. It will respond to these issues through four days of peer-reviewed presentations, performances, keynote speeches, policy labs and breakout sessions, while also offering dedicated slots to SAR's Special Interest Groups (SIG).

Practice-based research through the arts poses a fundamental challenge to both reductionist and conventional modes of thinking within academia and society. As a minoritarian mode of knowledge production, it eludes simplification and easy categorisation. By expanding formations of critical thinking, creative practice and social imagination in fundamental ways, it celebrates the complex and diverse modes of thought and action necessary to address today's societal challenges. Artistic research is uniquely placed to embrace and explore diverse systems of knowledge formation that exist underneath or next to established power structures. By moving beyond the limits of text, writing and the imperative practices of counting, mapping and dissecting, artistic research provides access to knowledges situated outside predominant or hegemonic cultures.

Call for contributions

A call for contributions for the International Forum on Artistic Research 2026 has been published and is closed now. Keep an eye out for program details and subscribe to the SAR conference 2026 newsletter to stay updated.