Introduction

In 2002, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) launched a large-scale research programme to explore recent transformations in the cultural field and develop new theoretical concepts and frameworks for the humanities. Transformations in Arts and Culture ran for almost a decade and consisted of seven sub-programmes involving over 30 senior and junior scholars at different universities in the Netherlands. In addition, an art-science programme CO-OPs was set up in which artists and academics explored how art and academe could mutually benefit from each other’s practices and ideas.