Building upon the insights of its first edition in 2024, What Methods Do 2026 will focus on how methods are useful for the practice of research in the arts, how they operate and what can be learned from their application across a broad range of contexts. In art conceived of as research, knowledge is assumed to be produced not only in the form of discourse but also in the form of practices. It is in this context that the question arises: what do methods do, to produce such knowledge?

The 2026 symposium poses an understanding of methods as situated and specific, rather than universal. Methods imply a who, a where, and a when, but more fundamentally, they exist within singular constellations of actors. Methods do not assume a pre-defined ground on which to act, but rather perform a re-distribution of the components they engage with. Rather than operating by abstraction, they make a research problem more tangible.

In a series of sessions spread throughout the day, internationally active artist– researchers will present the methods they have developed, will share documentation from their practices and engage in a dialogue with a group of respondents and the participating audience. This will unfold in a series of sessions organised around four different areas and forms of practice, titled: Choreographies, Genealogies, Communities and Infrastructures.

Framed as an active hub for exchange, the symposium will offer a space for collective discussion, reflection, and the articulation of multiple perspectives on the role and nature of methods in artistic research. The process of reflection will be guided throughout the day by two moderators who will be active across all the panels and will lead the discussion towards its conclusion at the end of the day.