Research in the Arts
Oslo National Academy of the Arts is a specialized university within the subject area of the Arts. Research at the Academy is an undertaking within each of the six disciplinary departments: Arts and Crafts, Dance, Design, Fine Art, Opera, and Theatre. Working at the forefront of innovative art, design, and performance practice not only leads artistic research across the disciplines, but also intersects with education in a mutually rewarding development and feedback process.
At Oslo National Academy of the Arts, research is primarily conducted within the framework of “artistic research” which is understood as a creative activity within art, design, and performance that provides new insight, understanding, knowledge, and affects the field.
It is artistic practice itself, research through the arts, that constitutes what we refer to as the “artistic core” for these research activities.
Artistic research is not only based on artistic practices within the disciplines, but also includes a communicable focus on methods and critical reflection - including ethical questioning and disciplinary contextualization - with a concern for the preservation of academic freedom. The processes and results are openly shared on a continuous basis with the disciplinary communities and with the general public.
In the Norwegian Act relating to universities and university colleges, both artistic research and scientific research methods are equally recognized. Some of our faculty conduct research on, for, and about the arts based on scientific methods.
Scientific research at the Academy relates itself to the artistic fields and covers areas such as theory and art histories, pedagogy, and analysis of methods and tools including the body.