We would like to inform you that the forthcoming 2nd ERUA Biennale “Arts & Edges”, will be hosted in-person by the University of the Aegean on the island of Lesvos, on May 28-30, 2027.
The Biennale will be addressed to academics (faculty members, post-doctoral researchers, doctoral students, postgraduate students) from the member and associate institutions of the ERUA alliance, researchers and artists collaborating with these institutions, as well as local organizations of the ERUA regions, active in the relevant field.
This initiative is held within the framework of ERUA’s WP5, “Achieving Social Change in ERUA’s Local Communities and Regions”, and continues the effort to open an interdisciplinary dialogue and creative exchange between the academic community, local communities and social actors around the “Arts & Edges” theme, as initiated through the ERUA Online Biennale 2025.
The Biennale is closely aligned with ERUA’s Knowledge Community for Creative and Artistic Engagement (CIKC3) and supports ERUA’s long-term Arts & Edges strategy. It aims to connect ERUA’s creative and artistic communities both internally and with local and international cultural, creative, and societal actors. Through these collaborations, the Biennale fosters cultural dialogue, innovation, and regional development across Europe, transforming research excellence into educational opportunities.
The CIKC3 (Knowledge Community of Creative and Artistic Engagement) develops collaborative initiatives connecting ERUA members with students, artists, NGOs, cultural actors, local communities, and creative industries through activities such as Biennales, DigiTalks, Science Cafés, Hackathons, Creative Clusters, and participatory research and innovation projects related to the thematic areas of Arts & Edges, Culture(s) & Nature, and Aesthetics & Ethics. A central component of the initiative is “Creative ERUAners,” a creative community of students, academic and administrative staff connecting campuses with creative actors and local communities across the ERUA alliance.
Objectives
The three-day in person “Arts & Edges” Biennale aims to:
- Further connect research to education within the ERUA community on issues related to arts and the concept of the Edge.
- Promote discussions on the interdisciplinary nature of the edge and its impact on ERUA’s interests and activities. ERUA unites universities from across Europe’s East and West, North and South, embracing students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds – rural and urban, insular and mainland, local and global. These institutions and students stand “on a critical edge” in terms of values, geography, and social diversity.
- Highlight the role of the arts in addressing social challenges.
- Connect arts with forms of sustainability (SDG’s).
- Provide specific case studies demonstrating how the intersection of the arts and different conceptualizations of the edge can drive innovation within ERUA and its local communities.
Within ERUA, the “Edge” functions is a transversal thematic area that foregrounds questions of boundaries, transitions, plurality, social transformation, and critical inquiry across disciplines, cultures, and communities. In this context, Arts & Edges are approached as crucial spaces for dialogue, experimentation, creativity, and socially engaged forms of research and practice.
Indicative Thematic Axes for Contributions
Proposals related to Arts & Edges may integrate at least one of the following areas:
Migration, Exile, Refugees and Borders
Environmental Transition
Democracy, Human Rights, Inclusion, and Gender Equality
Culture, Interculturality, and Multilingualism
Cutting-Edge Issues in Public Space
Innovative Practices: from Research to Education
Interventions and Experiments in Local Societies
Indicative Formats of Participation
The Biennale welcomes interdisciplinary, experimental, artistic, educational, research-based, and community-oriented approaches related to the thematic areas of “Arts & Edges”. Possible formats may include presentations, workshops, performances, exhibitions, screenings, roundtables, participatory interventions, site-specific practices, collaborative laboratories, and other exploratory forms of engagement.
The Biennale particularly encourages proposals that foster dialogue between academic, artistic, social, and local communities, while opening spaces for critical reflection, collective experimentation, and creative exchange across different contexts and practices.
Support for External Artists
Limited funding for the travel expenses of distinguished artists participating in the event may be available, subject to specific eligibility criteria and budget availability, which will be specified in the official call in September 2026.
Pre-Call purpose
This pre-call is intended to inform and activate individuals, groups, research teams, artists, cultural actors, local initiatives, and communities within and beyond the ERUA alliance who are engaged with the thematic areas of the Biennale. It aims to encourage early dialogue within the knowledge community of Arts & Edges, foster interdisciplinary and transnational collaborations, support the formation of networks and collective initiatives, and prepare the ground for the official call for contributions.
Through this preliminary announcement, the Biennale seeks to identify emerging ideas, practices, artistic interventions, research trajectories, and community-based actions related to the theme of “Arts & Edges,” while strengthening connections between academic, artistic, social, and local actors across different European and international contexts.
Scientific Committee
• Elena Theodoropoulou (University of the Aegean), Chair of the Biennale
• Anne Alombert (University Paris 8)
• Florence Gerard Lojacono (University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria)
• Evagelia Kavakli (University of the Aegean)
• Maria Klessmann (European University Viadrina)
• Eva Llorca Afonso (University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria)
• Polina Mihova (New Bulgarian University
• Federica Monti (University of Macerata)
• Georgi Niagolov (New Bulgarian University)
• Silvia Pierosara (University of Macerata)
• Ilaria Pirone (University Paris 8)
• Arnaud Regnauld (University Paris 8)
• Monika Rosińska (SWPS University)
• Andrius Sprindžiūnas (Mykolas Romeris University)
• Jolanta Starzak (SWPS University)
• Rūta Marija Vabalaitė (Mykolas Romeris University)
We warmly invite members of academic, artistic, social, and local communities to engage with the Biennale process from its early stages and to contribute to the development of a shared space of experimentation, dialogue, networking and creative inquiry around the many dimensions of “Arts & Edges”.
Important dates
The official call for contributions will be launched on 21st of September 2026.
For any clarifications you may need, please contact us at erua-biennale@aegean.gr .
