International Forum on Artistic Research
17th Conference of the Society for Artistic Research (SAR)
Submission Number: 191
Submission ID: 246
Submission UUID: f763087c-4291-4376-a357-9dc0af5888f6

Created: Thu, 26 Feb 2026 - 18:09
Completed: Thu, 26 Feb 2026 - 18:16
Changed: Wed, 13 May 2026 - 08:12

Remote IP address: 212.204.182.88
Submitted by: Anonymous
Language: English

Is draft: No
Current page: webform_confirmation
Given name Inna
Surname Kulazhenkova
Email innakulazhen@gmail.com
I understand that by submitting this form, I consent to the use of my data for the purposes of the 2026 Forum on Artistic Research'. Yes
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Title Reimagining Conflict Through Gesture: Embodied Strategies as Artistic Method
Format Project presentation
Main language English
Abstract This presentation examines how embodied artistic strategies function as methodologies for engaging with conflict, positioning artistic practice as epistemic inquiry and civic action. Building on my research into how dance and performance artists materialize conflict narratives and reimagine social fragmentation, I propose that conflict is not only something to be resolved but something that can be experienced, interpreted, and transformed through embodied awareness.

At the center of the presentation is my practice-based project, Non-Verbal Scores: Reimagining Gestural Vocabularies for Mediators, which investigates gesture as an autonomous yet relational mode of meaning-making within mediation contexts. The presentation is situated within the conference theme Exploring the Ineffable, and specifically addresses dance, movement, and gesture as minoritized or endangered embodied knowledges. Based on analysis and reenactment of recorded mediation sessions, I separated gestures from speech units and realigned them through artistic interpretation. The work reveals how nonverbal expression can reshape communicative dynamics, empathy, and perception in conflict encounters.

Combining artistic experimentation with research-driven inquiry, the presentation demonstrates that embodied knowledge is not illustrative of theory but generative of it. The presentation invites the audience to consider artistic methods as forms of knowledge production and as practical tools for those working with conflict, mediation, and collective processes. The presentation argues that embodied artistic strategies offer a distinct methodological contribution to conflict studies by foregrounding gesture as a site of knowledge, relation, and transformation beyond verbal discourse. This project contributes a transferable artistic methodology for examining nonverbal communication in conflict contexts, demonstrating how choreographic thinking can inform mediation practice.
Link to the Exposition https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/3058586/3058587
Image Business gesture 7.JPEG
Short biographies of the presenter(s)
  • I am an artist with a strong pursuit in academic and artistic research trajectories, working across psychology, dance, performance art, and socially engaged practices. My artistic and research methodology investigates the ways in which embodied knowledge forms strategies to engage with conflict and functions as tools for social cohesion, conflict transformation, and civic imagination. My academic foundation spans the fields of psychology, where I gained solid training in qualitative and social science research methods; artistic research, which strengthened the interdisciplinary outlook and provided theoretical grounding of practice-based research; and art education, where I trained in pedagogy as an integral part of social practice.
Previous presentations or iterations of the research
Additional information
Spatial and technical requirements Standard technical requirements: projector and screen
Potential risks or ethical concerns
Create a user account for SAR 2026 No