Research Methodologies in Creation Processes

December 2-4, 2026
University of Algarve, Faro (Portugal)
Hybrid format

Call for Contributions

The CIAC – Research Centre for Arts and Communication invites artists and researchers to submit proposals for the 3rd Creation Processes International Conference, to be held from 2–4 December 2026 at the University of Algarve (Gambelas Campus, Faro, Portugal), in a hybrid format.

The conference is organized by the Visual Arts and Creation Processes Working Group of CIAC, in partnership with the Creation Processes Research Group at PUC-SP (Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo). This third edition is dedicated to the theme “Research Methodologies in Creation Processes” and aims to foster critical reflection on theoretical and practical approaches grounded in creative processes, contributing to the advancement of research-creation studies.

Since 2019, the collaboration between CIAC and PUC-SP has led to several joint initiatives, including the CIAC Creation Processes Collection, this international conference, and academic programmes in the field, such as the Master’s Degree in Creation Processes (University of Algarve) and the Postgraduate in Creation Processes (PUC-SP), both involving faculty members from the two institutions.

Building upon theoretical contributions such as those of Cecilia Salles, who proposed a transversal approach to the study of creative processes, the conference welcomes a diversity of methodologies and perspectives, encouraging the exchange of experiences, practices, and research findings.

We invite artists and researchers to reflect on contemporary methodologies grounded in creative processes, deepening the understanding of creation as a field for the production of diverse forms of knowledge, theories of art from the artist’s perspective, research through creation, and related approaches.

Submission of Abstracts

We welcome abstracts for papers addressing the conference theme, as well as related topics, including, but not limited to:

  • Theories of artistic creation and artistic poetics
  • Materialities and procedures in artistic creation
  • Reception, co-creation, and participatory practices
  • Contemporary experimentation
  • Transdisciplinarity and creative processes
  • Culture, memory, and archives of artistic creation
  • Poetics of research
  • Ethics and politics of creation
  • Critical accounts of creative processes
  • Decolonial and anti-racist practices of  creation and research
  • Feminism, gender, and intersectionality in artistic creation
  • Sustainability, ecologies of creation, and geopoetics
  • Educational practices, literacies, and creative processes
  • Creative processes and AI tools
  • Digital and generative poetics, and hacker practices

Abstracts must be submitted in English and Portuguese (or English and another native language of the authors), be between 200 and 300 words, and include a title and up to five keywords. Submissions must be made through the Submission Form available on the conference website by 31 August 2026.*

Submission Form

(*Researchers who require an acceptance letter before the submission deadline in order to meet funding deadlines at their institutions should contact the conference organizers by email at conferenciaprocessosdecriacao@gmail.com).

Following notification of acceptance, presenters must confirm their participation by completing the Presenter Registration Form.

  • Registration fee (presenters, per paper): €50
  • Registration (non-presenting participants): Free

*Researchers, faculty members, and students of the University of Algarve are exempt from the presenter registration fee. To qualify for the exemption, registration must be completed using a valid and active institutional email address.

All accepted and presented proposals will have their abstracts published in English and Portuguese (or English and another native language of the authors) in the conference’s Book of Abstracts.

Authors of presented papers may subsequently be invited to submit full papers for consideration in a special issue dedicated to “Research Methodologies in Creation Processes”, to be published in a journal or editorial collection of CIAC or its partner institutions.

Timeline

  • Submission of proposals: until August 31, 2026
  • Notification of results to participants: until September 30, 2026
  • Registration of accepted papers: until October 30, 2026
  • Conference: December 2–4, 2026

Organization

Support

This conference is supported by national funding through the FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., as part of the project «UID/04019/2025 – CIAC» DOI: 10.54499/UID/04019/2025 and by European funding under the projects «UID/PRR/04019/2025» DOI: 10.54499/UID/PRR/04019/2025 and «UID/PRR2/04019/2025» DOI: 10.54499/UID/PRR2/04019/2025

Esta publicação também está disponível em: Portuguese (Portugal)