Making Things Public is a research program that consists of a select group of PhD/CrD candidates and artists preparing for third cycle education in Artistic Research. These researchers are affiliated, both internally and externally, to the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and the Sandberg Instituut.
The programme, which focuses on methodical discussions about artistic research and the acquisition of skills for third cycle research, forms the framework for supervising a limited number of PhD researchers and other advanced researchers who are preparing a PhD, partly internally and partly external. More and more artists and designers are opting for the option of following a PhD trajectory – financed or not. In the context of career development and professionalisation, the Gerrit Rietveld Academie enables some lecturers to devote part of their time to this, while retaining their salary. The MTP group, which was supervised by senior researcher Sher Doruff until June 2019 and by Dr. Paula Albuquerque since 2020, serves not only to generate knowledge and insight, but also to support this process in the form of exchange of experience, presenting research results, and financially making conference visits abroad possible.
The first Making Things Public symposium took place on Friday 26th of November 2021 in the Gerrit Rietveld Academie’s Gym. The participating researchers had a chance to discuss their process and materials by way of a public presentation or by exhibiting in the space. The result was a multilateral exchange of knowledge and experiences, both within the group itself as with the attending audience. The event was organized by a team composed of Paula Albuquerque as Head of Making Things Public, Liza Prins, project coordinator at LAPS, and Marta Pagliuca Pelacani, UvA student assistant.
