Art & Research-Creation
New ways of knowing, imagining, and shaping a just energy transition
A just energy transition is technological, but it is also social, cultural and experiential. Moving toward more sustainable and equitable energy systems requires new ways of understanding how change is experienced, imagined and shaped by people and communities. Artistic practice and research-creation generate knowledge through distinct methods, approaches, and perspectives, creating opportunities to ask different questions, challenge assumptions, explore possibilities, and contribute new approaches to the complex challenges of energy transition.
This understanding is integral to Volt-Age’s interdisciplinary approach to research. In collaboration with Concordia’s Faculty of Fine Arts, Volt-Age supports artists and research-creators as active contributors to its broader research ecosystem. Three complementary programs create opportunities for engagement at different stages of artistic and academic practice: Volt-Age Current invites Concordia students to create and exhibit original works exploring questions related to electrification and energy transition; the Spark Fellowship supports recent Fine Arts graduates in pursuing their own artistic investigations in collaboration with Volt-Age researchers; and Volt-Age Quest provides funding for faculty research-creators to develop projects that engage with Volt-Age research and themes.
Volt-Age Quest: Explorations in Research-Creation
Volt-Age Quest provides research-creation funding to full-time faculty members in Concordia’s Faculty of Fine Arts. Through three funding streams supporting projects of different scales, Quest enables research-creators to explore electrification and energy transition through artistic practice, develop new methods and approaches, and engage with Volt-Age researchers and projects through interdisciplinary collaboration. Quest is a rolling call for submissions, with applications evaluated twice annually.
Spark Fellowship
The Spark Fellowship supports recent Concordia graduates from Fine Arts and other eligible programs in developing their research-creation practices through sustained engagement with Volt-Age. Fellows pursue their own artistic investigations while collaborating with researchers, students and partners, bringing different methods and ways of knowing into the research process and contributing new perspectives on the challenges and possibilities of a just energy transition.
Volt-Age Current: Student Exhibition
Volt-Age Current: Student Exhibition invites current Concordia students to explore electrification and energy transition through their own artistic practices. Through a juried competition and exhibition, students create original works in response to a specific theme, using art to investigate, interpret and generate new perspectives on the social, cultural and experiential dimensions of a just energy transition.
Volt-Age is funded by a $123-million grant from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund.
