I thought you were taller

It's a very tangible transition: the move from working remotely to meeting and working with colleagues in person. ELIA executive director Maria Hansen shares her thoughts and experiences from the artistic research meeting and conference this week in Vienna.

Sitting in my hotel room late at night, still at work. It feels familiar and I am sure most of you have been there – but what a strange feeling it is to be ‘back’. We are in Vienna, for the artistic research meetings that are taking place here this week at the Academy of Fine Arts. First up is ELIA’s Platform for Artistic Research meeting, and then the final conference of the Erasmus+ strategic partnership on Advancing Supervision for Artistic Research Doctorates.

The preparatory dinner for the Platform meeting, was an intimate and warm affair with only the Working Group members in attendance. Many of us had never met in person because we have been working online for such a long time. We were strangely surprised by each other’s height, and seeing each other's  actual legs seemed such a novelty. We especially admired the glamorous yellow sneakers that our colleague from Bergen was wearing.

Of course, these are just minor details and it should be noted that we have worked extremely well together online for past 18 months. But being together now feels different, engaging on a personal level over dinner, falling from one story into another. I have definitely missed this depth of togetherness and I'm sure I'm not alone. 

The Artistic Research Working Group decided to make ‘Working Together’ the title of this meeting which is ELIA’s first physical meeting after the pandemic. A great crowd have arrived in Vienna to talk about just that (and by the way, I think it’s no coincidence that the researchers are first to venture back into the physical space!).

Next up will be the Leadership Symposium in Tallinn in November which, we are pleased to say, has already attracted many registrations. I'm thoroughly looking forward to the  opportunity to deep dive into the theme, ‘Surfing Uncertainties’ with you all. But first Vienna - I'm writing this on the eve of the Platform meeting and I must say, I am excited and maybe a bit nervous. Do we still know how?

P.S. Yes, indeed, I did vow to get rid of this bad habit, sitting in hotel rooms late at night answering emails. I should be doing yoga and reading my book. Maybe tomorrow...

Read the latest news in ELIA October Newsletter 2021.