Research Creation at Concordia

Research-creation (or, research through artistic practice) is not easily defined. What does it involve? What forms can it take?

Join us for an afternoon that brings together six Concordia doctoral practitioners (students, candidates, and a recent graduate) who work with research-creation in distinct ways. Through a series of short presentations, each will share a glimpse into their own approaches, followed by a panel discussion about research-creation—its scope and affordances as well as the challenges it raises. 

The afternoon will conclude with informal conversation and a chance to explore research-creation materials, artifacts, and works-in-progress.

All are welcome, whether you’re a prospective graduate student, a current student, or a community member who is curious about research-creation or already practicing it.

How can you participate? Join us in person or online by registering for the Zoom Meeting or watching live on YouTube.

Have questions? Send them to info.4@concordia.ca

Raphaël Bessette-Viens

Raphaël was born and raised in Gatineau, on the unceded territory of the Algonquin-Anishinabeg Nation and is currently pursuing their PhD in the humanities at Concordia University on the unceded lands of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation in Tio'tiá:ke/Montreal. Their dissertation is situated at the intersections of trans studies, critical disability studies, science and technology studies and research-creation and focuses on the parallel and connected practices of trans design and experimental filmmaking. They explore the relations between materials and bodies in their engagements with gender affirming gear (binders, breast forms, tucking underwear, packing, stand-to-pee devices, sex-toys, etc.) and in materialist analog filmmaking techniques of frame-by-frame animation and process cinema.

T Braun

T Braun is an artist and researcher who creates virtual worlds and performances that challenge hegemonic notions of gender. They are based in Tiohtià:ke (Montréal), where they are pursuing a PhD in Humanities at Concordia University. Their work explores how trans VR enthusiasts envision the metaverse, create gender-affirming content, and form emergent, imaginative communities. They are currently conducting interviews and co-creating virtual worlds with community groups and other artists.

Pramila Choudhary

Pramila Choudhary is an interdisciplinary practitioner whose work spans the intersections of environment, material culture, generational craft knowledge, textile art, design, and community impact. With over a decade of experience in the textiles and clothing industry, she has collaborated with corporations, non-profits, craft communities, and design institutes. Trained as a textile and industrial designer from the National Institute of Design (India) and HSLU (Switzerland), she is currently pursuing her PhD in Geography, Urban, and Environmental Studies at Concordia University, focusing on sustainable practices and craft traditions.

Laura Magnusson

Laura Magnusson is an artist and doctoral student in Interdisciplinary Humanities at Concordia University, where she explores how lived experiences of sexual violence can be communicated through visual, material, and embodied forms––expanding testimony beyond word-based frameworks. Drawing on her experience as a scuba diver, she creates work underwater, engaging water’s immersive, dynamic qualities to unsettle the fixed expectations of institutional reporting and open up new, fluid conditions for expression and witnessing. She holds an MFA from the Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan.

Manuela Ochoa

Manuela Ochoa is a Colombian artist and researcher whose work explores historical memory, oral history, and community-based art. She holds a Master’s in History and Theory of Contemporary Art from the San Francisco Art Institute and completed a PhD in Humanities at Concordia University with the project “Can you hear the trees talking?”, in collaboration with Comunidad, a Colombian community leader and human rights defender. Her practice investigates the potential of art and listening to reflect, remember, and restore.

Polina Shubina

Polina Shubina’s background is in theatre, puppetry, visual arts, and sailing. She has worked with theatre companies and art festivals, street and site-specific performances in roles ranging from Assistant Director and Stage Manager to Performer and Producer. She is now in her 2nd year of PhD, working at the intersection of Performance Studies, Environmental Humanities, and Communication Studies. Her PhD research-creation explores sailing ships as a transdisciplinary media for environmental inquiry, community building, and outreach. Polina is a Volunteer Coordinator and active member of the Waterways group in the Ethnography lab, a Scholar in Residence 2025/2026 at the Center for Oral History and Digital Storytelling, and a Research Assistant on Learning with the St. Lawrence River collaborative Art & Science project. Polina loves collective work and co-creation, she’s passionate about interdisciplinary projects around bodies of water and shorelines, as well as research and practice rooted in movement and embodiment.