Creative practitioners within a tertiary education context may identify a number of strands of in-betweens in their existence. For some, this takes the form of multi-, inter-, or trans-disciplinary practices: producing work that fuses and utilises different media to articulate a singular meaning; or exploring how different forms of knowledge can be used to solve a common problem. In other instances, the in-between may be result of cross- and multi-cultural creative dialogue: how different artistic traditions and cultural practices can be brought into a fruitful embrace; or how one locates a space, metaphorical or literal, between different cultural identities.
We might also reflect on our dual roles as creative practitioners and educators – how do our experiences in each
area of life relationally inform and shape the other? Or, alternatively, what experiences should be informing the other? How does artistic practice relate to best teaching practice? On a final and related point, there is the ever- pressing role that Te Pūkenga – not only as an educational institution but as an educational framework – might play in influencing creative practice and how those skills and knowledge are taught and researched. What are the different regional artistic voices within Aotearoa? What do they look and sound like? And how might they operate within a national context?
While we should not be so presumptuous to think that answers to these questions will necessarily materialise today, it is hoped that there may be room for contemplation and discussion at the very least. Moreover, we hope that the sharing of perspectives, methodologies, and projects in these realms may spark interest and connections amongst participants, with a view of developing further collaborations, extending artistic work, and demonstrating the need for creative arts research within our sector and society at this time.