Collaboration redefined
Singapore, 2026
During the invitation for a symposium contribution in Singapore, questions of collaboration were approached from two different but closely connected perspectives: first through climate leadership, public participation and decision-making processes and later through artistic research, authorship and forms of distributed agency.
Across both contexts, collaboration emerged less as a matter of simply bringing people together and more as a question of how agency, responsibility and authorship are distributed within a process.
Moving between policy-development and artistic research, the exchange asked what happens when participation shifts from consultation towards decision-making, and when authorship is understood not as an individual position, but as something negotiated between people, institutions, bodies, technologies and environments.
Singapore, 2026
During the invitation for a symposium contribution in Singapore, questions of collaboration were approached from two different but closely connected perspectives: first through climate leadership, public participation and decision-making processes and later through artistic research, authorship and forms of distributed agency.
Across both contexts, collaboration emerged less as a matter of simply bringing people together and more as a question of how agency, responsibility and authorship are distributed within a process.
Moving between policy-development and artistic research, the exchange asked what happens when participation shifts from consultation towards decision-making, and when authorship is understood not as an individual position, but as something negotiated between people, institutions, bodies, technologies and environments.
Context: International Research & Exchange
Focus: Participation, Climate Leadership, Authorship & Collaborative Practice
Location: Singapore
Funded by: Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), KU Leuven and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and University of the Arts Singapore
I. From participation to decision-making
Southeast Asia–Europe Youth Partnership for the Goals
Following an invitation for a contribution to the 2026 programme participants, Timothy Nouzak joined the conversation with a talk reflecting on social engagement, climate-policy and collective decision-making through artistic practice.
Moving from inputs and dialogue towards collaborative problem-framing and rapid prototyping, rather than approaching climate challenges as isolated environmental questions, participants were invited to work across social, institutional, economic and political dimensions of change. A central concern was how youth and the public can move beyond forward to become active participants within decision-making processes.
Southeast Asia–Europe Youth Partnership for the Goals
Following an invitation for a contribution to the 2026 programme participants, Timothy Nouzak joined the conversation with a talk reflecting on social engagement, climate-policy and collective decision-making through artistic practice.
Moving from inputs and dialogue towards collaborative problem-framing and rapid prototyping, rather than approaching climate challenges as isolated environmental questions, participants were invited to work across social, institutional, economic and political dimensions of change. A central concern was how youth and the public can move beyond forward to become active participants within decision-making processes.
Public Dialogue for Decision Making
Within the collaborative workshop modalities, participants developed and presented models for strengthening public participation within urban and community development processes.
The proposed structure moved from identifying concrete issues towards youth selection, ideation, pitching, mentorship and tangible outputs — connecting participation to the institutional conditions needed for ideas to travel further.
Within the collaborative workshop modalities, participants developed and presented models for strengthening public participation within urban and community development processes.
The proposed structure moved from identifying concrete issues towards youth selection, ideation, pitching, mentorship and tangible outputs — connecting participation to the institutional conditions needed for ideas to travel further.
The discussion therefore shifted from the question of whether people are represented towards a more structural concern:
What infrastructures are necessary for participation to become actual decision-making power?
Government, research institutions, communities, NGOs, businesses, funding structures and educational resources were considered not as external stakeholders, but as part of an ecosystem through which participation can either become actionable, or remain symbolic.
What infrastructures are necessary for participation to become actual decision-making power?
Government, research institutions, communities, NGOs, businesses, funding structures and educational resources were considered not as external stakeholders, but as part of an ecosystem through which participation can either become actionable, or remain symbolic.
II. Who Speaks?
ADPRex × APARN — Authorship, Authority, and Authenticity
Later that month, the question of collaboration resurfaced within a very different setting.
Following an invitation to the ADPRex × APARN gathering Who Speaks? Authorship, Authority, and Authenticity, the focus shifted from governance and participation towards artistic research and the politics of authorship.
Authorship as a shifting function.
A recurring proposition that seemed to articulate throughout the presentations was that authorship does not necessarily disappear within collaborative practice — rather, it moves. Agency may shift between performers, audiences, technologies, spatial arrangements, cultural conventions and institutional structures. Listening, responding and stepping aside can therefore become as consequential to the production of a work as speaking, directing or composing.
ADPRex × APARN — Authorship, Authority, and Authenticity
Later that month, the question of collaboration resurfaced within a very different setting.
Following an invitation to the ADPRex × APARN gathering Who Speaks? Authorship, Authority, and Authenticity, the focus shifted from governance and participation towards artistic research and the politics of authorship.
Authorship as a shifting function.
A recurring proposition that seemed to articulate throughout the presentations was that authorship does not necessarily disappear within collaborative practice — rather, it moves. Agency may shift between performers, audiences, technologies, spatial arrangements, cultural conventions and institutional structures. Listening, responding and stepping aside can therefore become as consequential to the production of a work as speaking, directing or composing.
III. Collaboration, redefined
Across both programmes, the same question returned in different forms:
Who gets to act — and under which conditions?
Across both programmes, the same question returned in different forms:
Who gets to act — and under which conditions?
Within climate governance, this meant asking whether participation provides access to actual decision-making structures.
Within artistic research, it meant questioning the idea of a singular author and tracing how agency moves through bodies, technologies, spaces, institutions and collective processes.
Seen together, collaboration becomes less a harmonious agreement between participants than an ongoing negotiation of voice, responsibility, access and agency.
Within artistic research, it meant questioning the idea of a singular author and tracing how agency moves through bodies, technologies, spaces, institutions and collective processes.
Seen together, collaboration becomes less a harmonious agreement between participants than an ongoing negotiation of voice, responsibility, access and agency.
Southeast Asia–Europe Youth Partnership for the Goals 2026
Empowering Youth for Climate Resilience
Singapore, July 2026
Contribution: Invitation for a presentation on Youth for Decision Making.
Empowering Youth for Climate Resilience
Singapore, July 2026
Contribution: Invitation for a presentation on Youth for Decision Making.
ADPRex × APARN 2026
Who Speaks? Authorship, Authority, and Authenticity
Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts / University of the Arts Singapore
27–29 July 2026
Research focus: Participation, collaborative governance, distributed agency, artistic research
Location: Singapore
Who Speaks? Authorship, Authority, and Authenticity
Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts / University of the Arts Singapore
27–29 July 2026
Research focus: Participation, collaborative governance, distributed agency, artistic research
Location: Singapore
Programme partners / Funding:
Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) KU Leuven;
ADPRex, APARN, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and University of the Arts Singapore.
Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) KU Leuven;
ADPRex, APARN, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and University of the Arts Singapore.
© Documentation: APARN/ASEF