Artistic Academic Research,
Publications, Presentations...
Trans/inter/multi disciplinary facilitator
​Creating spaces in between disciplines

I am a multidisciplinary artist and researcher whose practice explores contemporary eco-social uncertainties, conflict territories, and the tensions arising from extractive relationships with Nature.

As an independent artistic/transdisciplinary researcher I have been involved in various academic publications, performative presentations workshops and interventions in academic conferences that tight my praxis to the theoretical world, however always reflecting from practice. By having led numerous multidisciplinary workshops and interventions as well as projects and exhibitions I have gained deep knowledge on working with participatory and collaborative research methodologies that have contributed significantly to the international academic research particularly in the field of eco-social art, community-based research, transdisciplinary research, decoloniality, feminism as well as participatory and collaborative approaches in various disciplines and countries. 

My work has consistently engaged with themes of ecosocial crisis, conflict management, social inequality, migration, climate change, collective resilience, extractivist relationships with Nature, trauma-informed practices, etc. This knowledge comes from both embodied experiential learning and academic research, which I weave together in my artistic praxis. My experiences collaborating on international projects, particularly those in Colombia and Ukraine, have deepened my understanding of ecosocial consequences of armed conflicts and natural disasters.


​“We highlight the central role of uncertainty in the creative processes of art-making and ask how artistic strategies for working productively with uncertainty can contribute – both to understandings of resilience in other disciplines and to promoting community resilience.”.
Quotes from "Riding the tide Socially-engaged art and resilience in an uncertain future" by
Sage Brice and Seila Fernandez Arconada
What I offer... 
Research collaborations,
Transdisciplinary facilitator
Consulting for transdisciplinary/artistic projects
Performative talks, Artistic interventions/engagements 
Workshops... in conferences and other academic spaces


I committed to fostering collaboration, innovation, and transformative change. I have a proven track record of creating inclusive and dynamic research spaces for diverse groups to engage in meaningful dialogue, shared experiences, and collective action.

  • Artistic research collaborator: I am an artist researcher using artistic methods as part of research collaborations. Integrating an artistic dimension in a research generates a different process where permeable but rigorous research brings other questions, other narratives and other forms where multisensorial dimensions allow embodied learning for both researchers and further audience. 
 
  • Facilitator of transdisciplinary collaborations: Bringing together individuals from different disciplinary fields to address complex challenges, looking for common research questions and methods for unique research finds. 
 
  • Consulting services for academic research projects: Due to my experience on academic and artistic expertise I offer tailored consulting services and guidance to help research groups to achieve their potential from writing appropriate proposal frames for transdisciplinary and artistic collaborations to facilitating spaces of dialogue when group dynamics don't help transdisciplinary research. 
 
  • Design and delivery of participatory workshops, performative talks, Artistic interventions/engagements: Engaging participants and further audience in active inclusive experiential embodied learning, co-creation appears. From sparking other narratives in talks (performative talks) to artistic interventions or participatory workshops in conferences and other academic spaces can generate other forms of researching, communicating research or provoking artistic experiences as exchange to open up boundaries, dialogue, mutual understanding and exchange.

  • Dialogue of different kinds of knowledge (going out of academic world): Integrating art, science, and community engagement. By working on situated methodologies based on embodied experiential learning merged with academic disciplinary approaches I create spaces in between. addressing social and environmental issues.
 
  • Conflict management and conflict resolution in research dynamics: My expertise in facilitation and training allows me to guide research groups in navigating complex challenges, including conflict management and resolution. I am skilled at creating inclusive spaces where diverse perspectives can be shared and resolved constructively.

 
A selection of research publications and blogs (ongoing updates): 

 
  • As a contribution on the ongoing collaboration with the "Art, Research and Feminisms" group of the University of the Basque Country, we recently published the book "Me la pelas, Kant: Reflexiones sobre decolonialidad y feminismo en el arte y la investigación universitaria" (2023). This book has been presented in May 2024 at the Artium Contemporary Art Museum. In this book there are two chapters with contributions of Seila Fernández Arconada, a solo written piece titled: “Decolonise Nature, artistic actions from the territories-bodies-earth with proposals of ecosocial balance” and a collaborative paper: “Weaving spaces of dialogue and decolonial creation in the here and now. Public action When yesterday is today, Body, memory and territory”. 
 
  • "#ExistenciaEnBusqueda: diálogo desde encuentros entre especies y saberes" / "#ExistenceOnSearch: Multispecies encounters and knowledge dialogue at the in-between space" (2019) collaborative paper by Seila Fernández Arconada and Santiago Martinez Medina for Committee for the Anthropology of Science, Technology & Computing online publication.
Spanish:  https://blog.castac.org/multilingual/existenciaenbusqueda-dialogo-desde-encuentros-entre-especies-y-saberes/  
English:https://blog.castac.org/2019/12/existenceonsearch-multispecies-encounters-and-knowledge-dialogue-at-the-in-between-space/ 

  • The Land of the Summer People (2014-15) is an art-science research collaboration between the artist Seila Fernández Arconada and Prof Thorsten Wagener of the Water and Environmental Engineering Research group at the University of Bristol, UK. The blog includes some of the development of the research project which had a number of results in practice and theory: https://thelandofthesummerpeople.org/
 
  • #EstudioFlotante, cuando el río suena a Amazonas (2019-2022) ("#Floatingstudio, when a river sounds like the river Amazon") is an artistic project inspired by the relationship between human beings and water, in the most important fresh water reserve on the planet: the river Amazon. The blog (in Spanish) has some insights of this embodied learning research presented at a multidisciplinary installation with publications at the Centro Botín Museum in 2022. https://estudioflotante.art.blog/

 
  • There are more already published research that I will keep adding to this list. ​

​A selection of transdisciplinary engagements:


​
​
The land of the Summer People 2014-ongoing.  
A multidisciplinary project collaboration with the Water Engineering Department at the University of Bristol. For more information check The Land of the Summer People website



​
Artist collaborator in the research project Colombia BioResilience: Biodiversity resilience and ecosystem services in post-conflict socio-ecological systems in Colombia" where a number of transdisciplinary "in between" spaces were facilitated. 

Artistic response: ​Disonancia Sugerida, experimento artístico en el espacio intermedio. presented at El Parche Artist Residency, 25 July 2019. Bogotá (Colombia) ​





Artist trainer facilitator at the series of transdisciplinary workshops "Drawing (inter) actions collaborative research, Art and Care for ecosocial (re)balance" (May 2022). A collaboration with the Public Engagement team, the Research Governance team and the Cabot Institute at the University of Bristol (UK).

​Academic Background

​Academic ​Education:
 
-2010-2012 MA Fine Art at the University of the West of England, Bristol. Successfully completed with Distinction.
-2009 Academic semester abroad (Erasmus program) studying BA(Hons) Photography at the School of Creative Arts, University of West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom. Successfully completed with a First Class qualification.
-2007-2009 Masters Degree in Fine Arts, specialising in media practice, photography and new technologies in Art at the University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Spain. Successfully completed with Distinction.
-2004-2007 BA in Fine Arts, University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Spain. Successfully completed with First Class.
 
 
Academic appointments (selection):
 
-- 2019-20 Honorary Research Staff at the Social Sciences Department, University of Bristol (UK)
-- 2014-19 Honorary Research Staff at the Civil Engineering Department, University of Bristol (UK)
-- 2019 Selected artist-researcher for interdisciplinary project Colombia BioResilience: Biodiversity resilience and ecosystem services in post-conflict socio-ecological systems in Colombia collaboration with the University of Bristol, University of Exeter and other partners. (Colombia-UK)
-- 2017/ongoing- Invited artist-researcher in the research group Art, Research and Feminism at the University of the Basque Country (Spain).
--2017 Selected artist-researcher at the Moore Institute Fellowship at the University of Galway (Ireland).
--2015 Invited artist AGU Fall Meeting with The Land of the Summer People project. San Francisco (USA).
-- 2014-2016 Artist leader at The Land of the Summer People, an art collaboration-research with the Water Engineering Research, group at the University of Bristol (UK).
 
 
Grants, awards, fellowships (selection):
 
-2019-22 International Artist research grant Botin Foundation
-2017 Moore Institute Fellowship Award.
-2014 The Somerset Community Foundation Award.
-2014 EPSRC funding for The Land of the Summer People.
-2014 Artist' International Fund by the British Council and Arts Council of England.
-2014 Selected at Transnational Dialogues China granted by European Alternatives.
-2009-10 Bancaja Leonardo Adeit Grant

Are you interested in collaborating? 

Research collaborations, trans/inter/multi/disciplinary engagements, performative talks, artistic interventions, workshops in conferences and other academic spaces as well as available for consulting on transdisciplinary/artistic projects.

    Contact me to discuss how we can collaborate and explore how my expertise can benefit your research project.