Research at the Rietveld

The Lectoraat Art & Public Space (LAPS) carries out research on the functioning of art in the public space and the way in which art is made public. LAPS also encourages teachers and students of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie (GRA) to undertake theoretical and practice based research projects. The objective of LAPS is to form a bridge between practical and theoretical education.

LAPS stimulates research by facilitating the research group ‘the knowledge network’ and the research programmes ‘Making Things Public’ and ‘The Fellowship Programme’. LAPS also coordinates the theory education at the GRA to stimulate and encourage students to do theoretical research.

The knowledge network
The knowledge network is a research group for teachers of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie (GRA) and external artists and academics. The knowledge network is open to all employees of the GRA that want to research art and design in public space.

LAPS supports the making public of all the results of this research. The expertise that is generated by the research is shared with students of the GRA and is made accessible by means of education projects and presentations. The knowledge network currently includes:

Making Things Public
‘Making Things Public’ is the research programme that the Lectoraat has established together with dr. Paula Albuquerque as senior researcher. The research program contains a select group of PhD researchers both internal and external from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie (GRA) and Sandberg Instituut (SI). The research programme currently includes:

  • Barbara Alves
  • Mariana Lanari
  • Yvonne Dröge-Wendel
  • Femke Herregraven
  • Alice Smits
  • Isabel Cordeiro
  • Miklos Gaal
  • Baha Görken Yalim
  • Spela Pikaja
  • Jason Hansma
  • Luis Rodil Hernandez
  • Hanna Stennbergen-Cockerton

Coordination: Paula Albuquerque

Research Fellowship Programme
The Gerrit Rietveld Academie and the Sandberg Instituut piloted the ‘Research Fellowship project’ in 2018. The Research Fellowship project is an annual event that supports staff, alumni and third parties in the development of their artistic practice by emphasising the field of Artistic Research. The Research Fellowship project was set up because of their wish to further develop Artistic Research practices within both institutions. Besides this, the motivation for the Research Fellowship project is threefold:

First, it aims to inspire GRA/SI alumni and staff. Secondly, the GRA/SI hope that the fellows’ newfound knowledge, in turn, influences education. Thirdly, to actively support Artistic Research practices, as it offers visibility to students about different kinds of research attitudes (should they want to organise their practice in such a way).

The Fellowship programme currently includes: