CFP: Mind, Art, Knowledge: Dialogues between Cognitive Science, Artistic Practice, and Philosophy
Ted Nannicelli
Mind, Art, Knowledge: Dialogues between Cognitive Science, Artistic Practice, and Philosophy
LUCA School of Arts/ Palace of the Academies/Cinematek, Brussels, Belgium. 15-17 June 2026
Organised by Maarten Coëgnarts (University of Antwerp/LUCA School of Arts) and Ted Nannicelli (University of Queensland)
How can artistic practice produce knowledge? How can artists learn how to generate knowledge via their practice and articulate it? And how can philosophy and cognitive science help us understand — and perhaps even expand — this epistemic potential? By bringing practice, theory, and empirical inquiry into dialogue, this three-day symposium will explore how art’s epistemic potential can be better understood, communicated, and cultivated — both within and beyond the academy.
In recent decades, both philosophers of art and practicing artists have challenged the traditional view of art as purely expressive or aesthetic, proposing instead that artistic practice may constitute a distinct form of research and yield genuine knowledge. Crucially, this knowledge is not divided into separate domains of embodiment, cognition, and perception; rather, it emerges from their deep intertwinement. Artistic knowing is at once experiential, embodied, and conceptual — a dynamic interplay in which perception and bodily engagement are inseparable from reflective and conceptual understanding. Yet articulating the character of this integrated knowledge — and relating it to more familiar scientific or philosophical frameworks — remains an ongoing challenge, particularly if one’s expertise lies, first and foremost, in an art practice. At the same time, developments in cognitive science and philosophy of mind offer promising tools and frameworks: from predictive processing and embodied cognition to empirical aesthetics and experimental philosophy. These approaches can help make sense of how artistic practice shapes and is shaped by perceptual-cognitive capacities.
This symposium brings together artistic researchers, philosophers, and cognitive scientists to explore how these three strands of research can learn from each other.
We invite scholars from any of these three fields, broadly construed, to submit proposals for traditional papers, posters, or artistic works with posters. Questions that proposals may address include, but are not limited to:
- In what ways can the creation of art be genuinely epistemic? What sorts of knowledge or understanding can the creation of art foster – and how?
- Is there a particular epistemic value that attends the creation of art? Is it of the same value as other sorts of epistemic goods?
- How can philosophical and cognitive frameworks support, rather than constrain, artistic research?
- How might an aesthetic education, informed by empirical philosophy, cultivate perceptual-cognitive capacities that matter not only to artists but to society at large?
- What tools and methods — from video-essays to practice-led inquiry and reflective writing — can help articulate the knowledge art produces?
Submission details.
Please prepare a coversheet with the names of the author(s), institutional affiliation(s), and 50-100 word bio statement(s) and an anonymized proposal that includes:
- Mode of presentation (paper, poster, artistic work with poster)
- Title
- Abstract (250-500 words)
- Reference list
- For artistic works with poster, any details about requirements for presentation. Please note artistic works will be accepted for presentation subject to the organizers’ ability to meet presentation requirements and the organizers’ will not be liable for any loss or damage that may occur.
Proposals should be submitted no later than 1 March 2026 to the conference organisers via mindartk...@gmail.com or the online portal at https://www.mindartknowledge.org/open-call
Further details about the symposium can be found here: https://www.mindartknowledge.org/
Confirmed speakers to date include:
Dr Daisy Dixon (Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Cardiff)
Dr. Christopher Earley (Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, University of Edinburgh)
Dr Jacopo Frascaroli (Postdoctoral Fellow in Psychology, University of Turin)
Dr Marina Iosifian (Senior Research Fellow, School of Divinity, University of St Andrews)
Dr Iris Vidmar Jovanovic (Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Rijeka)
Prof Marc Leman (Methusalem Research Professor in Systematic Musicology, Ghent University)
Prof Hans Maes (Vice-Dean of Research, LUCA School of Arts)
Prof Elisabeth Schellekens (Chair Professor of Aesthetics, University of Uppsala)
Prof Murray Smith (Professor of Philosophy, Art, and Film, University of Kent)
Dr Sander Van De Cruys (Postdoctoral Researcher, Antwerp Social Lab, University of Antwerp)
The Mind, Art, Knowledge Symposium will adhere to the BPA/SWIP Good Practice Scheme. It is funded with the generous support of:
The British Society of Aesthetics
Film EU Centre of Excellence FILMIND
The Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO)
LUCA School of Arts (The associated Faculty of Arts of KU Leuven)
The Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image