Research & Development
TCAF has three overarching strategic goals, which we achieve via our five R&D themes - education, innovation, sustainability, wellbeing.
We work collaboratively, either through our in-house experimental ground (artist residencies) or in partnership with frontline initiatives and organisations.
Methodology
Our Research
TCAF recognises the existence of research on the benefits of art, which it defines in a broad sense. However, we are looking to challenge on one side an exclusively academic approach to knowledge and on the other side conclusions deriving from empirical observations in the field.
We do that by equally focusing on research and on experimentation. Our approach is to trial and develop practical solutions for the benefit of the general public, linking research and development.
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We are further set apart by the following attributes:
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International, multilingual and multicultural
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Multidisciplinary and transversal
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Unconventional and open to trialling new methods
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Aimed at providing robust findings and tangible solutions
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Committed to lasting (sustainable) impact for the benefit of the public and future generations
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Deployment of digital tools
Our R&D goals
We have three overarching goals connecting our focus themes on the specific ways in which art is transformative:
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Build and disseminate knowledge by testing existing knowledge, developing tools and methodologies to capture data and evidence
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Establish effective and lasting collaboration between art organisations and other sectors, such as academia, the third sector, government agencies, civil society, and corporations
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Provide informed leadership on key issues affecting the arts
Experimentation and engagement grounds
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Commissioned research
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Workshops
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Conferences, symposia
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Public restitution and community events
Residencies
Our Approach
Our review of the international literature and evidence on the transformative power of art demonstrated that, despite the repeated use of residencies by arts organisations, the cultural sector lacks an understanding of the specific ways in which residencies are transformative.
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For example, in the Policy Handbook on Artists’ Residencies (2014), whose goal was to provide an analysis of the value of artists’ residencies and to identify examples of good practice, the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) group of European Union Member State experts on Artists’ Residencies put together a set of recommendations. Among them, they acknowledged that there is a need for better evaluation of artists’ residencies and better collection of standardised data and statistics.
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This working group identified a set of recommendations for cultural organisations and participant artists, such as:
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Ensure good evaluation
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Produce documentation and generate feedback to inform future practice
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Develop new and sustainable networks in order to create greater impacts and legacies
TCAF aims to contribute to fulfilling these gaps with both its R&D work and its own residencies in France.
Use Case
TCAF was commissioned by the Goethe-Institut UK to develop an extensive, multi-method evaluation of its Goethe at LUX arts residencies (2017). The main goals of the evaluation were, first, to identify the intrinsic value of the residency for its selected artists; second, to identify the value of the residency for the broader context of the residency and the Goethe-Institut’s institutional strategy.
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In doing so, we also tested the relevance of the methodology that was previously applied in the evaluation of another Goethe-Institut residency (Villa Kamogawa), as discussed in its Culture Works brochure (2016).
Digital Realm
New paradigms
We favour a new model of cultural and creative service organisations that are conceived as open platforms to address the big social challenges of our time.
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We believe in digital commons and networked digital infrastructures, which
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allow through voluntary cooperation the production of shared value and
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are accessible to participants (contributors and users) of different sizes, resources and technical skills
Partners & Networks
If you are interested in working with The Cornelius Arts Foundation as a partner, network or venue, please drop us a line