Art is not merely the subject of research. Artistic practice can itself generate knowledge.
But what kind of knowledge are we talking about? Who is recognized as a knowing and researching subject? Which experiences, bodies, materials, and relationships become part of a research process? What power lies in our images, archives, technologies, and institutions? What do the methods we use to conduct research themselves produce? And what changes when we not only conduct feminist research but also critically examine research from a feminist perspective?
With equalACT, the Ernst Busch University of Theatre Arts Berlin and the Berlin University of the Arts are launching a joint experiment: Over the course of eight sessions and six labs, equalACT brings together FLINTA* artists, researchers, faculty, and students, as well as diverse knowledge practices from the universities. Six teams are working on artistic research projects involving film, archives, bodies, voices, puppets, technology, and gaming.
In early 2026, the women’s and gender equality officers at the HfS Ernst Busch and the UdK Berlin launched equalACT. The impetus was as practical as it was political: At both universities, there are artists, faculty, and researchers who have been working for years on feminist, queer, intersectional, and anti-discrimination issues – often within their own disciplines, classes, workshops, and projects. Joint initiatives such as Prof*me or #wessenfreiheit demonstrate just how much power is generated when we pool our existing expertise, experiences, and resources. This is precisely why equalACT creates a cross-university and interdisciplinary structure.
At the kick-off in May, FLINTA* individuals from teaching and research at both art universities met, developed shared ideas, and formed new collaborations. In early July 2026, the equalACT team – Susanne Foidl (FGB at the HfS), Vanessa Wozny (FGB at the UdK), Lorena Boße (Project Communication & Coordination), and the project advisory board – comprising Charlotte Freundel, Dr. Jenny Fuhr, Dr. Anna Luise Kiss, and Anne Renner – selected six artistic research projects with a feminist focus for funding.
Six Labs – Six Starting Points
COMPLICATING THINGS – Prof. Hannah Perner-Wilson
Gaming, Technology, Feminism, and Power Structures.
Female Pages – Dr. Vanessa Gravenor, Prof. Mathilde ter Heijne, Prof. Hannah Perner-Wilson, Johanna Stapelfeldt, Prof. Susanne Vincenz
Feminist archival work and non-linear artistic biographies of FLINTA* individuals.
Reframing NEUE BILDER: Schwarzer Filmschaffender in Deutschland – Prof. Dr. Karina Griffith, Benita Bailey
Hyper(in)visibility Schwarzer Filmemacher*innen im deutschen Kino
Frauenblock Berlin: Wie schreiben sich emanzipatorische Räume in Körper, Bewegung und Licht ein? – Sabrina Labis, Isabel Robson
Warum schreie ich nicht, obwohl ich schreie? – Magda Lena Schlott, Ada Biljan
On the Relationship Between Body, Voice, and Puppet.
Wort*e von Frauen – Prof. Ulrike Völger, Ada Biljan
Cataloging, Digitization, and Contextualization of (Spoken) Texts Beyond a Male-Dominated Canon.
Research Needs Connections
Alongside the six labs, eight sessions will take place, creating a shared space for thought and collaboration: Grant recipients will network with guests from the fields of artistic research, various artistic disciplines, and feminist theory and practice. The focus is on research questions and methods, on positioning and responsibility, on archives and the canon, on networks and research ecosystems, on AI and technical systems—and, time and again, on the question: What does artistic practice make tangible, visible, or conceivable that might otherwise remain inaccessible?
Gesa Marten, film editor, dramaturg, and professor at the Film University Babelsberg, kicked off the first session on September 9. In her presentation, she spoke about approaches, methods, and current discourses in artistic research. Gesa Marten has been engaged in artistic research in film for many years and views editing itself as a process of thought and research.
The subsequent colloquium focused on the six funded equalACT projects. The teams presented their projects and initial progress: They shared questions and reflections on their respective approaches and, through joint discussion, developed initial perspectives for their future work. What questions are on their minds, and what remains open at this early stage?
What stood out was the deep mutual interest among the participants. People with very different artistic and professional backgrounds came together for an entire day, listened to one another, asked questions, contributed their thoughts, and shared their experiences. The discussions did not end with the colloquium but continued during breaks and over meals together. It became clear just how important it is to create such a space. By “space,” we do not mean only the physical space with tables and chairs. “Space” also encompasses time, attention, relationships, institutional conditions, and informal conversations.
The event continues on September 29! equalACT is organizing the second session in collaboration with the Research Ecologies team at the BAS (UdK Berlin). The session will focus on the question: What does artistic research need in order to develop—and what role do the spaces, relationships, and structures we create for this purpose play? Together with Dr. Lisa Glauer and Dr. Anne Kurr, we’ll explore research contexts that extend beyond individual projects: How do networks and forms of exchange emerge in which unfinished work can be shared, further developed, and set in motion through other perspectives? In the afternoon, this question will be explored through specific examples of artistic research. Ivana Papić, Nilra Zoraloglu, and Sonya Schönberger will provide insights into their projects and discuss their experiences, methods, and the conditions of their work.
On October 28, under the title *The Lore, Vore, and Core of AI Imagery*, Ava Leandra Kleber and Elisa Deutloff will share their feminist artistic work with and on AI systems. How do these systems transform images and ideas—and what questions arise when their very logics become the subject of artistic research?
At equalACT, we ask what role one’s own position plays in the research process—and what it means for artistic research when archives are not understood as neutral repositories of knowledge. It’s about recognizing that a medium doesn’t just show something but produces meaning itself, that relationships, bodies, affects, and materials are involved in the creation of knowledge, and that not knowing isn’t viewed exclusively as a deficit—for us, this is precisely what “make it feminist” means in artistic research. The slogan is thus also a call to set one’s own practices in motion.
SESSION DATES
September 9, 2026 / Session 1
Artistic Research – Approaches, Examples, and Project Colloquium
with GESA MARTEN (Location: HfS 1.51)
September 29, 2026 / Session 2
Research Ecologies 2026 – Project Insights / Colloquium as a Curated Ecology of Togetherness
with DR. LISA GLAUER, DR. ANNE KURR, and the Berlin Centre for Advanced Studies in Arts and Sciences (BAS)
Oktober 28, 2026 / Session 3
The Lore, Vore and Core of AI-Imagery – Artistic Research on and with AI Systems
with AVA LEANDRA KLEBER and ELISA DEUTLOFF
TBA
December 3, 2026 / Session 4
January 20, 2027 / Session 5
March 3, 2027 / Session 6
April 14, 2027 / Session 7
June 9, 2027 / Session 8
End of 2027 (TBA) / Symposium
The sessions will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the bat Studiotheater (Belforter Str. 15, 10405 Berlin) at the HfS Ernst Busch. Register at equalact@hfs-berlin.de.
More dates and information at www.hfs-berlin.de/aktuelles/equalact/.
A joint project of the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Berlin University of the Arts, funded by the Berlin Equal Opportunity Program.