Professor Katarzyna Kosmala, MA (Hons) Pg Dip MSc PhD

Chair in Culture, Media and Visual Arts at the School of Business and Creative Industries, the University of the West of Scotland, a curator, and art writer. Previously, Prof Kosmala was a Visiting Research Fellow at GEXcel, Institute of Thematic Gender Studies, Linköping University & Örebro University, Sweden and Visiting Professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She researches heritage and identity, cultural labour and discourses of creativity and community in the context of a globalising network society, heritage and participation, art production and enterprise, arts-run projects, as well as gender and politics of representation. Since 2012, Prof Kosmala chaired Interdisciplinary Research Network Regeneration and Waterfront Heritage Zones in Northern Europe. Resulted research led to a number of doctoral projects concerned with post-industrial waterfront spaces associated with shipbuilding and maritime production, looking at the role of arts and the effectiveness of community-led initiatives in planning as well as participatory practice in heritage protection.

Selected publications include: Precarious Spaces: The Arts, Social and Organizational Change (Eds.) (Intellect and The University of Chicago Press, 2016), Sexing the Border: Gender, Art and New Media in Central and Eastern Europe (Ed) (CSP, 2014), Art Inquiry on Crossing Borders: Imaging Europe, Representing Periphery (Eds.) (ŁTN, 2013), Imagining Masculinities: Spatial and Temporal Representation and Visual Culture (2013, Routledge). Selected exhibitions include: Azimuth: Sound/Image (TMU and Miraikan - National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, Tokyo, Japan, 2016), Exporting Zagreb (National Museum of Gdansk, 2016), Exporting Gdansk (HDLU, Zagreb, 2015). Writes regularly about video and new media art in international art journals and catalogues. Member of European Cultural Parliament. 

• Visual culture, new media, contemporary arts and representation

 Researches and writes on aspects of construction and representation of gender and identity in contemporary (visual) culture and in video and new media arts, artists and meaning of work, creativity and enterprise in the context of cultural globalisation; art production; arts-run projects; art criticism; politics of representation, space and organisation.

• Heritage and culture

Applied research and outputs in participatory approaches to regeneration; heritage, communities and marginalization; intangible culture and representation, heritage and gender.

• Organisations; politics of functioning and organisational lives

 Researches and writes about critical and interpretative approaches in analysing construction of gender and identity at work, creativity and competence constructions (socialisation, ways of learning and working strategies); critical theory and forms of accountability. Also researches alternative forms of organizing (arts-led regeneration, participatory practice) under transitions in the socio-economic and cultural contexts of emerging democracies (including post-Communist legacy) and in more peripheral locations and contexts. 

Professor Kosmala currently researches and writes about cultural labour and discourses of creativity, identity and community in the context of a globalising network society, heritage and participation, art production and enterprise, arts-run projects, as well as gender and politics of representation. 

Shadow Expert for the  Creative Europe funded Memory of Water  an artist-led project exploring post-industrial cultural heritage on waterfront in the context of urban planning and community development. Over two years, the participating partners from six countries (Intercult in Sweden, Stad Ostend in Belgium, the Municipality of Levadia in Greece, Nadbaltyckie Centrum Kultury in Poland, Fablevision in Scotland, and Ormston House in Ireland) have collaborated on twenty-three interconnected activities including four city labs, six international residencies, and a filmed documentary.

Artists worked with citizens, community groups, politicians, urban planners and other stakeholders to create inclusive events and artistic interventions. The project was developed to meet the three priorities of the Creative Europe Co-operations programme: audience development, capacity building and transnational mobility.

Leads research collaboration with Tokyo Metropolitan University Engaging the Human Sensorium through Art and New Technologies around knowledge exchange and incorporates investigative and developmental symposia, masterclasses and exhibitions in Scotland and Japan, designed to promote the interchange of creative ideas in areas where arts and emerging technologies interface in ways which can produce significant social and economic impact.

Key cultural organizations accross Europe such as European Solidarity Centre, Glasgow Museums, National Museum of Socotland, National Museum of Gdansk, HDLU

Local Authorities and Scottish Government

European Commission & Council of Europe

International and national art festivals

Cultural planning and art organizations