Within Musical, we offer two types of research, academic research and practice-based scientific research (PWO, Praktijkgericht Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek):
Musical: research
Through the research component of the academic Master's in Musical, the programme aims to provide students with the opportunity to graduate as autonomous, inquisitive artists who can set up their own projects and offer a response to the current practice of the Musical arts, which in Flanders is more situated in the commercial domain. This sector is certainly not underestimated: the productions are easily accessible and attract many people to the Musical theatre. But it is not enough. There is a need for a parallel trajectory in which, after intense research, new visions lead to innovation in content and concept, which in turn lead to new performance practices, and in which cross-fertilisation and co-creation with other art forms can lead to original home-grown creations or daring adaptations of existing material.
In the Master's programme, the focus of research is entirely on the development of new visions and renewed conceptual thinking, which must be reflected in innovative processes and experiments that lead to a broadening and deepening of artistic performance practice.
The Master's programme cannot be considered separately from an academic artistic research environment embedded in the Master's programme of the Music Department and in collaboration with the existing research environments of the RITCS and KCB. Within its own research environment, the following key points will be directional (use of research resources), both for research projects, teachers and for the master's theses:
- Historical roots and tradition of the musical;
- Scenography & dramaturgy;
- Musical setting/design;
- Innovative and interdisciplinary practices.
Contact
Kristin Van den Buys
Musical: PWO (practice-based scientific research)
Knowledge Center PAKT (Podium- en Audiovisuele Kunsten, Technologie - Performance and Audiovisual Arts, Technology) is the successor to the Knowledge Center for Stage Techniques. As a knowledge center for the Schools of Arts RITCS and KCB, PAKT is situated at the intersection of art and technology. Research into the technical and artistic value of the latest developments in audiovisual and live art is linked to research into the history of the performing arts. KC PT built a reputation with research and services on (among other things) competence management, sustainability and safety, and entrepreneurship in the performing arts— areas where there is a desire to keep knowledge and services up-to-date.
This methodological and substantive know-how is extended to generalized digitization and to the field of extended reality: a catch-all term that encompasses diverse aspects of audiovisual and theatrical 'illusionism'. Technical research into the past, present and future of staged illusion will be tested against artistic experiments, primarily with creators and performers of musical and musical theater. Simultaneously, the research will aim to develop new pedagogical tools on art and technology, which can provide an essential contribution to the classroom of the future.
KC PAKT is embedded in the Bachelor programs of RITCS (audiovisual arts, including stage technology) and KCB (musical), but also works intensively with academic programs in arts (audiovisual, theater, music) and with partners from the field of performing and audiovisual arts, both at home and abroad.
Contact
Mira Delbaen
