matters is not only their artistic prowess and skills, but an integral set of competences. The bottom line in the European framework of qualifications is that these students hold the title of Master of Fine Arts. This qualification is on the same level as a Master of Business Administration or Applied Linguistics. This cannot be over-emphasized. Students should be aware of that. In hindsight, such a publication project cannot but interact with the fashionable topic of ‘artistic research.’ It is debated in symposia and workshops around the world within the academic sphere, including art schools. But in the arts, too, I notice an intense activity around the phenomenon of research. There the phenomenon of temporary schools set up by artists in order to write down all sorts of programs with a strongly educational character. And only yesterday, we both participated in the “Suspense” symposium on ‘research in the arts’, here in Antwerp. What’s your idea about this evolution ? Would you like to reflect on this issue ? The one thing I don’t have is a crystal ball. In all fairness, I think we have to be realistic about it. During the symposium yesterday, Michael Schwab placed himself in the position of reviewing the process from the future. During his lecture, he was very critical of ‘artistic research’ as a kind of monstrosity. Let’s keep our focus clear. The last thing we need is an academy that only attracts pseudo-intellectuals who do not want to get their hands dirty, so to speak, and who believes that everything can be organized by producing a discourse and writing a thesis at the end. In that case we have taken the wrong road. But let’s not fall into extremes and believe in the future. The Academy keeps appealing to people who have the ambition to create powerful images, and who are also looking for a good discussion.
Within the domain of ‘artistic research’, we are currently drifting away from the universities. Previous plans to integrate art colleges into the university are being abandoned. How do you see the future of the Academy ? Is there an opportunity to intensify research in close collaboration with the contemporary art scene ? I am thinking, for example, of the ‘Extra Academy’ seminar, which will become an integral part of the curriculum. There are several new opportunities to work together with contemporary art centers such as Extra City. The challenge is to articulate a new discourse on ‘artistic research’, but in a very direct way, starting from artistic practice itself. Well, one of my concerns regarding the integration of art colleges in traditional universities, or ‘academization,’ was the added value of academic culture. At best we felt there was some sympathy, and the urge to learn from different cultures. But in some cases I also encountered incomprehension and a lack of understanding which is essential for ‘artistic research’. The question was how to install a legitimate ‘peer group’ for artistic research, by ‘peers’ I mean more than persons sympathetic to or familiar with fine arts and design. This not only includes our friends at St. Lucas Antwerp University College of Arts and Design, but also people from the contemporary art scene. Universities are also inviting captains of industry, independent researchers and manufacturers for ‘peer’ assessment. What do you feel is the added value of ‘academization’ for the student ? And I mean the direct impact of something that was implemented by the government, initiated by senior researchers, and only afterwards translated into the curriculum of the students. After all, I feel they are still the bricks and mortar of an art college …