In the Making '26 – Public Sessions on Arts and Research
The Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA) of Leiden University and Art Institute West Den Haag are pleased to announce their close collaboration in the third season of the public series In the Making. This series, dedicated to the practice of research in the arts, will consist of four public sessions taking place on a monthly basis.
The articulation of art and research has a long and rich tradition that has grown in scope and relevance in the past few decades. ACPA has played a significant role in this process, as it is an internationally pioneering institution that enables artists to conduct research through their own practice in a University context.
In the Making is conceived as a public space to learn about and discuss different forms in which research in the arts takes place. Rather than bracketed in the isolated realm of the lone artist, artistic research makes the relationship between art and society permeable; its methods become part of collective process of exploration and re-imagining. In the Making aims to deepen a perspective in which artistic practices unfold in constant dialogue with the society they takes part of.
Throughout the third season of In the Making, four different sessions will both draw attention to the work of internationally recognised artist researchers and will stimulate a dialogue across artist researchers at different points in their careers, active in the context of ACPA and the Hogeschool der Kunsten Den Haag as well as in other institutions in The Netherlands.
Composer, sound artist and researcher Gabriel Paiuk is the curator of the series.
You can find preliminary information on the In the Making sessions of the current academic year below. To receive information about credits and register for the ITM mailing list do not hesitate to contact Chloë van Diepen at West.
More information will be announced by December 10th through website, social media channels and or mailinglist.
Programme
18.30 Starting off with free soup and encounters
19.00 Start public session (lectures + panel discussion)
21.00 After talk and free access to the current exhibitions
22.00 Closing
Location
The programme will take place in at West Den Haag, in the former American embassy in The Hague (Lange Voorhout 102, 2514 EJ, Den Haag—walking distance The Hague Central), on Thursday nights from 18.30 — 21.00.
Dates
22 January 2026 - Resonance in the Inanimate: On the Boundaries Between the Algorithm and Human Expression
In this inaugural session of the 2026 In the Making series, performance artist, choreographer and deputy director of the Royal Academy of Art The Hague Pavlos Kountouriotis will give a presentation on his performance-as-research work Two Bobs and a Steve.
As a response to Pavlos’ presentation, senior artist at the Applied Performance Laboratory at the Vienna University of Applied Arts Mariella Greil will elaborate on her research perspective as it grew out of an expanded practice of choreography and performance.
After these two presentations a panel discussion will take place with members of the staff from the University of the Arts The Hague and the public.
22 January 2026 - Resonance in the Inanimate: On the Boundaries Between the Algorithm and Human Expression
In this inaugural session of the 2026 In the Making series, performance artist, choreographer and deputy director of the Royal Academy of Art The Hague Pavlos Kountouriotis will give a presentation on his performance-as-research work Two Bobs and a Steve.
As a response to Pavlos’ presentation, senior artist at the Applied Performance Laboratory at the Vienna University of Applied Arts Mariella Greil will elaborate on her research perspective as it grew out of an expanded practice of choreography and performance.
After these two presentations a panel discussion will take place with members of the staff from the University of the Arts The Hague and the public.
12 February 2026 - Research in Performance, with Karin Hellqvist
In the second session of this year’s series, acclaimed violinist Karin Hellqvist will present her exploration of performer creativity and collaborative work in music creation.
12 February 2026 - Research in Performance, with Karin Hellqvist
In the second session of this year’s series, acclaimed violinist Karin Hellqvist will present her exploration of performer creativity and collaborative work in music creation.
12 March 2026 - Plant Intelligence and Vegetal Re-enlightenments, with Felipe Castelblanco and other guests
The third session of In the Making will feature the work of multidisciplinary artist, researcher and filmmaker Felipe Castelblanco, who is currently Postdoctroal artistic resarcher at the Institute Art Gender Nature at the HGK Basel FHNW, in the context of the project Plant Intelligence.
See: 12 March 2026, Plant Intelligence and Vegetal Re-enlightenments
12 March 2026 - Plant Intelligence and Vegetal Re-enlightenments, with Felipe Castelblanco and other guests
The third session of In the Making will feature the work of multidisciplinary artist, researcher and filmmaker Felipe Castelblanco, who is currently Postdoctroal artistic resarcher at the Institute Art Gender Nature at the HGK Basel FHNW, in the context of the project Plant Intelligence.
See: 12 March 2026, Plant Intelligence and Vegetal Re-enlightenments
16 April 2026, Towards an Artistic Research Community, with Tobias Dias and a panel of artist researchers
In the fourth and final session of In the Making 2026, writer and art scholar Tobias Dias will share fundamental points he has developed in his forthcoming monograph, Elements of the Revolution: A Prehistory of Artistic Research.
16 April 2026, Towards an Artistic Research Community, with Tobias Dias and a panel of artist researchers
In the fourth and final session of In the Making 2026, writer and art scholar Tobias Dias will share fundamental points he has developed in his forthcoming monograph, Elements of the Revolution: A Prehistory of Artistic Research.
