About

Each Fellow will focus on a research theme in a method based in their own practice, responding to the biggest challenges faced by the creative industries and wider society, and the change needed for the development and survival of the sector and future economic growth. The Fellowship forms part of AHRC’s PORTIA (participatory and open research through technology in action) programme which seeks to create the spaces, places and platforms that enable creativity-led R&D to thrive.

In addition to a community of Fellows and organisations, residence time at collaborating institutions, and bespoke practice/research support, the Fellows will have access to state-of-the-art equipment through a further AHRC grant to upgrade facilities for creative and cultural research (CResCa). The funding will support the RSC to develop its creative research capability, including scope to use the new, immersive technologies to explore virtual embodiment motion capture, photogrammetry, volumetric capture and Lidar scanning to create 3D models, harnessing interactivity and innovation for storytelling.

Topics of priority for 2024-2025 include:

• Sustainable planet and climate futures
• Sustainable creative sector work 
• Innovation in creative practice
• Intersectional possibilities
• Art and health

Geared towards sustainable field-building, and historically underrepresented voices, the fellowship forges a consortium of cultural and research leaders committed to the community in order to support one another, develop common questions, and share best practices and new data. Current founding collaborators include:

• Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM, Brooklyn, NY, USA)
• The Music Center (Los Angeles, CA, USA)
• Watershed (Bristol, UK)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s Open Documentary Lab and Co-Creation Studio (Cambridge, MA, USA)
• Stanford Arts (Stanford, CA, USA)
• University of Oxford’s The Oxford Research Center for the Humanities (TORCH, Oxford, UK)