The University of Kent hosted Confluence on Thu 25 Jun, an interdisciplinary event celebrating creative and practice research while formally launching the new Centre for Creative and Practice Research, a collaborative initiative between Kent’s School of Arts and Architecture and the Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries (iCCi).
Delivered in partnership with Eastern Arc, Confluence brought together researchers, practitioners, and artists from across the University of Kent, alongside contributions from partner institutions including the University of Greenwich and members of the Eastern Arc network.
Designed as an experimental “unconference,” the event moved beyond traditional academic formats by inviting participants to share practice-based research through workshops, screenings, performances, installations, and embodied forms of knowledge exchange.
The programme reflected the breadth and diversity of contemporary practice research, featuring sessions on creative writing, interactive media, immersive sound installations, film, creative health, and interdisciplinary creative methodologies. Throughout the day, participants explored fundamental questions around how practice becomes research, where knowledge resides within creative processes, and how artistic practice generates new forms of understanding.
The day concluded with a timely panel discussion, AI and Creativity: Practice, Research, and the Future of Making, examining how artificial intelligence is transforming creative practice across disciplines. The discussion brought together researchers and practitioners to consider AI not simply as a tool, but as collaborator, medium, and subject of inquiry, raising important questions about authorship, creative labour, experimentation, education, and the evolving relationship between human and machine creativity. The session also featured robotic contributions that highlighted emerging intersections between technology and artistic practice.
Speaking about the event, the organisers, Dr Jeremy Scott (Centre Director, SAA), Professor Nicola Shaughnessy (iCCi & SAA) and Phil Ward (Eastern Arc Director) described Confluence as an opportunity to create new conversations across disciplines and institutions at a moment when practice research is becoming increasingly important in addressing complex cultural, technological, and societal challenges.
The launch of the new Centre for Creative and Practice Research marks a significant development for the University of Kent, establishing a new hub for interdisciplinary collaboration and reinforcing the university’s commitment to innovative research practices that bridge the arts, humanities, technology, and creative industries.
By bringing together researchers from across Kent, Greenwich and the wider Eastern Arc partnership, Confluencedemonstrated the growing importance of collaborative, experimental, and practice-led approaches to research, setting the foundation for future partnerships and new forms of creative inquiry.
It is hoped to make Confluence an annual celebration and exploration of practice research, with the institutions taking it in turn to host it.