Systems At Play
Imaginary
Institute
Play as Research /
Research as Play
ii · March 6 – 8, 2026
Framing
Questions

1. What if we approach research as a playable meta-system that we co-design, learn to modulate, and harvest its emergence?

2. What playful protocols could we employ in future research? How might we design process to invite experimentation, surprise, and exploration?

3. How can others enter and transform the research "game"? How can research-as-play meaningfully include collaborators, audiences, and stakeholders?

4. How can we capture outcomes so they can be replayed, remixed, or extended? What playful ways can we capture emergent insights and artifacts?

09:3010:3011:3012:3013:30 14:3015:3016:3017:3018:30 19:3020:30
Friday
6 March
@ Campus Kanal
Arrival · Games · Intro
09:30 – 10:30
124ALL x 2
10:30 – 10:55
Serious Topics Silly Frames
10:55 – 11:20
The Game Game
11:20 – 11:45
Break
Mutating Game Into a Model
12:00 – 12:30
Swarming Cards
Documentation
12:30 – 13:00
Lunch
13:00 – 14:00
Play as Research Methods
Sharing of Games
14:00 – 15:15
Final Reflection
Documentation
15:15 – 16:00
Dinner
@ CLEA
18:00 – 19:00
ii Planning Session
19:00 – 21:00
Clean CLEA
& Set Up
Saturday
7 March
@ CLEA House
Breakfast
+ ii €€
10:00 – 11:00
Movement I
Orion Maxted
Status Games
11:00 – 11:45
Movement II
Archetypal Roleplay
Ilia & Radi · Distilling Personal Archetypes
11:45 – 13:30
Lunch
13:30 – 14:30
Movement III
Joe Togneri
The Bouillon · Distilling Essence
14:30 – 15:50
Movement III
Holly Krueger
'Pataphysics
15:50 – 16:10
Movement IV
Making a Short Film
Collective Workshop · Playing It Into Being
16:10 – 19:30
Dinner
19:30 – 20:30
Evening Plans
TBC
20:30 →
Sunday
8 March
@ CLEA House
Breakfast
+ ii €€
10:00 – 11:00
Imagininjas
Body & Mind
11:00 – 12:00
Open Space
Collaborative Sessions
12:00 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 15:00
Open Space
Collaborative Sessions
15:00 – 18:00
Clean CLEA
& Tidy Up
18:00 – 19:00
Dinner
19:00 – 20:00
✦ ii Future Planning runs throughout Sunday's Open Space collaborative sessions

Details

Friday 6 March

From Experience: The Arts PhD in Practice, 10h - 16h
Campus Kanal, Brussels

SOLD OUT

Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 March

Imaginary Institute, 10h - 20h
CLEA, Brussels

On the 6th of March, The Imaginary Institute honoured to have been invited to apply collective intelligence and play protocols to organising the 2nd day of the conference From Experience: The Arts PhD in Practice, at Campus Canal, Brussels.

Then, on the 7 & 8 March, we will again make the Imaginary Institute at CLEA House, on the topic:
Play As Research / Research As Play

FROM EXPERIENCE
Friday 6 March

SOLD OUT

The conference is organised by Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel / RITCS School of Arts, University of Warwick, University of Stellenbosch, University of Gothenburg, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Centre Leo Apostel (CLEA), and The Imaginary Institute - who are devising the second day (March 6) in collaboration with Maarten Stragier (KCB) and Bobby Smith (Warwick University)

From Experience invites artist-researchers to reflect on their lived experience of the arts PhD: What motivated them to pursue a doctorate? How has the experience of doctoral study influenced their practice? Have academic requirements or protocols shifted their working processes — and if so, how? What obstacles, openings, or unexpected turns arise at the meeting point between professional arts practice and doctoral research in higher arts education?

The Imaginary Institute will facilitate play-based sessions inviting participants to imagine possible futures for research in and through the arts. These sessions approach creation as a collective, systemic process that tests current models of knowledge production. Participants will explore how artistic research can function as an ecology of practices linking art, science, play, and other ways of knowing through the co-creation of collective intelligence protocols.

Full programme and registration:
https://kunstenplatformbrussel.be/en/news/from-experience-the-arts-phd-in-practice-in-collaboration-with-the-university-of-stellenbosch-the-university-of-gothenburg-the-university-of-warwick

Deadline: 23 February 2026 SOLD OUT

RESEARCH AT PLAY
Saturday 7 &
Sunday 8 March

Note:
Saturday is the best day for newcomers to the Imaginary Institute
Sunday is when we will work on Imaginary future plans.

The Imaginary Institute will continue at CLEA house, with the overarching theme:

Play As Research / Research As Play

Exploring how research can be more playful, and play as generative potential for transdisciplinary research, which reenters the world as transformative collective imagination protocols.

Some framing questions:

1. What if we approach research (artistic, scientific, etc) as a playable meta-system that we co-design, learn to modulate, and harvest it's emergence?

2. What playful protocols, methods, or rules could we employ in our future research? How might we intentionally design our process to invite experimentation, surprise, iteration, and exploration rather than linear problem-solving?

3. How can others enter and transform the research “game”? How can research-as-play become a system that meaningfully includes others?  e.g. collaborators, audiences, stakeholders, references - and how might their participation alter the system itself?

4. How can we capture outcomes so they can be replayed, remixed, or extended? What playful ways can we use to capture emergent materials, insights, or artifacts so they remain available for reflection and further play?


Cost: €20.
Food is provided.
Places are limited.

OPEN CALL FOR PROTOCOLS

To attend or submit a protocol, please fill out the registration form, or contact:

Orion.Maxted@vub.be

More info

EXTRA:
Imaginary Solutions