NABA, in collaboration with the Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli, announces “Unframing Knowledge: Artistic Research Beyond Theory and Practice”, the first international double peer-reviewed conference on Artistic Research to be organised in Italy. The initiative stems from the Call for Papers launched in spring 2025, which received over 185 proposals from artists and researchers worldwide.
The conference will take place in Naples from October 27 to 29, 2025, hosted within the historic premises of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli and the auditorium of the MANN – Museo Archeologico Nazionale.
The initiative, part of the project P+ARTS – Partnership for Artistic Research in Technology and Sustainability – supported by the European Union – NextGenerationEU within the framework of the PNRR – National Recovery and Resilience Plan and created to strengthen the internationalisation of the Italian AFAM system (Alta Formazione Artistica, Musicale e Coreutica – Higher Education in Art, Music and Performing Arts) – seeks to explore new trajectories in contemporary Artistic Research, fostering dialogue between theory and practice, art and technology, ecology and society.
NABA announces “Unframing Knowledge: Artistic Research Beyond Theory and Practice”: the programme and conference guests
“Unframing Knowledge” represents a special occasion for scholars, artists and researchers, as well as a unique opportunity to engage with the most current and pressing issues across the fields of art, music, performance, design, new media and fashion. This international gathering aims to redefine the role of art as a tool for knowledge and transformation, offering a privileged setting for dialogue and exchange on Artistic Research.
The programme will be structured around seven thematic strands: Rethinking Research Methods, Art, Media, and Technology, Mediterranean Ecologies and Situated Perspectives, AI: Mapping Tools and Critical Deconstruction, AI and Emergent Practices, Exhibiting and Distributing Artistic Research, and New Ecologies in Artistic Research. The event will bring together around 100 keynote speakers, chairpersons, presenters and guests, including leading figures from the worlds of institutions, art, philosophy, music and cinema.
Among the most authoritative international voices participating will be Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Curator and Honorary Professor at FHNW – University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland; Mauro Lanza, composer at IRCAM – Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music at the Centre Pompidou in Paris; Norwegian scholar Jørn Mortensen, strategic supervisor at Kristiania University, former Rector of the Oslo National Academy of the Arts and Vice President of ELIA; philosopher Lydia Goehr, Professor of Humanities at Columbia University; and film director, screenwriter, producer and photojournalist Antonietta De Lillo.
The conference, one of the main stages and at the same time the most ambitious event promoted by P+ARTS, is held under the Patronage of the Ministry of Universities and Research, the Ministry of Culture, the Campania Region and the Municipality of Naples.