Performing and Audiovisual Arts as a Creative Middleground: Art, Research and Creative Entrepreneurship

International Conference and Forum
1-5 December 2026 | Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, Vilnius
Call for contributions below

The Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (LMTA) and the Lithuanian Composers’ Union (LCU), in partnership with Mosaic and FilmEU, invite researchers, artist-researchers, doctoral students, artists, creative industry professionals, representatives of cultural organisations and the public sector to participate in InMuse 2026 – Performing and Audiovisual Arts as a Creative Middleground: Art, Research and Creative Entrepreneurship, taking place in Vilnius on 1–5 December 2026.

InMuse 2026 brings together an international research conference and a professional forum, creating a shared space for dialogue between art, research, technology, creative industries, cultural policy and professional artistic practice.

The event will explore how artistic and academic practices, research, creative entrepreneurship and professional creative communities can generate new forms of collaboration, knowledge exchange and innovation. Performing and audiovisual arts will be approached as a creative middleground: a space in which different forms of knowledge, practice and expertise meet, interact and produce new artistic, cultural, social and economic value.

The programme combines keynote lectures, thematic sessions, selected presentations from an open call, expert discussions, artistic activities and collaborative formats. Particular attention will be given to the relationship between artistic practice and research, creative ecosystems, emerging technologies, authorship, creative entrepreneurship and the changing conditions of professional creative work.

Authorship Economy Forum

An integral part of InMuse 2026 is the international forum Authorship Economy: Rights, Income and Creative Entrepreneurship in the Contemporary Music Market, initiated by the Lithuanian Composers’ Union.

The forum extends the conference discussion towards the professional and economic realities of creative work. It will address copyright and rights management, licensing and the use of creative works, negotiation and remuneration, income models, artificial intelligence and authorship, as well as the professional and economic resilience of creators.

Bringing together artists, composers, copyright specialists, researchers, representatives of professional organisations, creative economy experts and cultural policy practitioners from Lithuania and abroad, the forum will examine a fundamental question: how can creative ideas and artistic work generate cultural, social and economic value while preserving the autonomy and agency of the creator?

Keynote Speakers

Prof. Dr Manuel José Damásio
Lusófona University / FilmEU, Portugal

Prof. Dr Montserrat Pareja-Eastaway
University of Barcelona, Spain

Prof. Dr Laurent Simon (tbc)
HEC Montréal, Canada

Prof. Dr Palle Dahlstedt (tbc)
University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Prof. Dr Patrick Cohendet
HEC Montréal, Canada

Call for Contributions

We invite proposals for oral and poster presentations addressing the themes of InMuse 2026.

Applicants are asked to submit:

• name and surname;
• institutional affiliation;
• position and academic degree, where applicable;
• preferred presentation format: oral or poster presentation;
• title of the presentation;
• an abstract of 200-350 words in English;
• a short biography of up to 200 words.

The abstract should briefly introduce the context and objective of the research, artistic research or creative project, its methodological approach where applicable, its main findings, outcomes or insights, and its relevance to the themes of InMuse 2026.

Please, register here:
InMuse 2026 – Fill out form

Submission deadline: 12 October 2026
Notification of acceptance: by 15 October 2026

Contact for inquiries:
Matas Samulionis
matas.samulionis@lmta.lt

Themes

InMuse 2026 welcomes contributions addressing, but not limited to:

• Transformations of performing and audiovisual arts and emerging creative practices
• Creative industries, cities and cultural ecosystems
• Creativity management, entrepreneurship and models of creative work
• Authorship economy, copyright, licensing, income models and the professional resilience of creators
• Partnerships between art academies, professional creative organisations, creative industries and the public sector
• Artificial intelligence, authorship and creative technologies
• Knowledge communities, networks and innovation ecosystems
• Collaboration between European university alliances, audiovisual industries and international professional networks

Artistic research and practice-based research are understood throughout the conference as methodological approaches that may intersect with all of these thematic areas rather than as a separate thematic field.

Programme

The five-day InMuse 2026 programme will include:

Collaborative creation session / hackathon
Developing creative start-up ideas and exploring pathways from artistic research to innovation ecosystems.

Opening and artistic programme
Bringing together electroacoustic performance, voice, image and interactive technologies.

• Five keynote lectures
• Five thematic sessions
• Selected presentations from the international open call
• Two expert panel discussions
• Authorship Economy Forum sessions
• Closing round-table discussion
• Workshop/hackathon

The programme will move across questions of European alliances and creative industries, urban and cultural ecosystems, creativity and knowledge communities, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, authorship and the professional conditions of creative work, concluding with a broader discussion on how creative middlegrounds and cross-sector collaborations can be studied, developed and sustained.

A detailed programme will be announced at the end of October.

Participation Fee

Academics/professionals: €150
Students and doctoral candidates: €75

The participation fee is waived for invited speakers, members of the LMTA and Lithuanian Composers’ Union communities, and representatives of organising partner institutions.