The Body and Embodiment in the Arts and Arts-Based Research

Embodied Aesthetics: The Body and Embodiment in the Arts and Arts-Based Research (A Transdisciplinary Conference June 20-21, 2026) When/Where: June 20: at the Association of Jungian Analysts’ Centre in London and Online June 21: Online only Fees (for both attendees and presenters): £180 (In person participation) £100 (Online participation) Call for Papers: “The body is our general medium for having a world.” — Maurice Merleau-Ponty The London Arts-Based Research Centre (LABRC) invites proposals for its forthcoming conference, Embodied Aesthetics: The Body and Embodiment in the Arts and Arts-Based Research. This transdisciplinary event will explore the role of the body—as subject, medium, and site of inquiry—in artistic practice, performance, and arts-based research. How does the body, as a site of sensation, memory, and imagination, become a primary medium through which art, research, and meaning take form? From psychosomatic experiences to body-based creative methodologies, from dance therapy to the impact of athletics on artistic expression, this conference seeks to investigate how the body is not only represented in art but also acts as an instrument of knowledge, memory, and transformation. Conference Themes We welcome proposals for 15-minutes presentations (academic, creative, or a hybrid of both) that engage with embodiment from a range of perspectives, including but not limited to: Poetry and the body: performance poetry, somatic writing practices, the body as a poetic archive, and poetic inquiry that foregrounds lived, felt, and sensorial experience. The medical humanities in the arts: Artistic and arts-based research engagements with medicine, healthcare, and clinical experience. Illness and creative processing: Creative and research practices that engage with illness, disability, chronic conditions, pain, healing, and vulnerability as lived bodily experiences. The body as material: The body as an artistic medium in performance, installation, visual arts, dance, and sculpture. Embodiment in creative process: How artists and researchers engage bodily experience in creative methodologies. The body as a medium of Arts-Based Research: How movement, gesture, and somatic experience serve as research tools. Psychosomatics and the expressive body: Exploring the connections between bodily sensations, trauma, and creative output. Psycho-body dynamics: The interplay of psychology and physiology in artistic and research practices. Body-based therapies and healing arts: Dance therapy, drama therapy, music therapy, and other embodied therapeutic approaches. Sports, athletics, and movement: Physical exertion as a mode of creative and artistic expression. Technology and the posthuman body: Digital, prosthetic, augmented, and virtual bodies in contemporary artistic and research practices. The sacred and ritual body: The role of embodiment in religious, spiritual, and mythological representations. Disability, difference and the body: Representations of non-normative bodies and the politics of bodily agency in the arts. The gendered and queer body: Feminist, queer, and trans perspectives on bodily identity and artistic representation. The body in space and movement: The politics of presence in dance, physical theatre, and site-specific performance. Memory, trauma and the body: How bodily experience and artistic expression intersect in the aftermath of personal or collective trauma. Ecologies of embodiment: The body’s relationship to nature, landscapes, and environmental consciousness in artistic practices. Who Should Apply? This conference welcomes contributions from scholars, artists, practitioners, and arts-based researchers working across disciplines, including poetry, visual arts, performance studies, literature, music, film, psychology, therapy, sports studies, philosophy, cultural studies, and beyond. Submission Guidelines Presenters may either share academic papers and/or creative work (poetry, prose, photography, music, painting, etc.), as we highly encourage arts-based research, as well as research which stimulates reflection on creativity, image, symbol and archetype. Please fill out our proposal form on https://forms.gle/d3TcQrJCxmpHR8kZA, by May 15, 2026. We will be announcing our plenary speakers and the full programme of the conference will be ready after the presenters are selected. Publication and Further Opportunities Selected papers and artistic contributions may be invited for publication in a special LABRC arts-based research volume. For any inquiries, please contact our conferences team on conferences@labrc.co.uk We look forward to your contributions in what promises to be an inspiring and interdisciplinary exploration of embodiment in the arts!